THE  C0IL4RSE  OF 

IKE  KIN(]DOM  OF 

NAPLES 


II.REHSKWanQKKKE 


(|nffm5!S^nfr0ft 


presented  to  the 
UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIEGO 

by 

Mrs.   Griff ing  Bancroft 


THE  COLLAPSE  OF  THE 
KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES 


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THE  COLLAPSE  OF  THE 
KINGDOM   OF  NAPLES 


By  H.  Remsen  Whitehouse, 
Lately  of  the  United  States  Diplomatic 
Service.     ¥%¥¥*¥¥¥ 
Author  of  the  "Life  of  Amadeus  of 
Savoy,  King  of  Spain,"  'Bt^A^^.-^i^    ♦ 


;■»  V   «1       > 


BONNELL,   SILVER  &  CO 

1890 


f^ 


Francis  JI, 

Krng  of  Naples 

iSsg-bi 


^ 


THE  COLLAPSE  OF  THE 
KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES 


By  H.  Remsen  Whitehouse, 
Lately  of  the  United  States  Diplomatic 
Service.      ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ 
Author  of  the  "  Life  of  Amadeus  of 
Savoy,  King  of  Spain,"  Etc.  ♦     ♦     ♦ 


NEW  YORK 

BONNELL,  SILVER  &  CO 

1899 


Copyrigrtat,  1899,  toy 
BONNBLL,    SILVER    *    Ca 


All  rights  reserved. 


\ 


TO 

JUSOE  AXTD  MASBB 

IN  LOVING  GRATITUDE  I  DJBDICA.TB 

THIS  STUOT. 


'Tbs  Labchss," 

October,  1800. 


CONTENTS. 


PAOI 

Preface U 

CHAPTER  I. 
Mr.  Gladstone's  letters  from  Naples.— Their  effect  on  Europe 
and  in  Naples. — Traces  of  the  reign  of  Murat.— Ferdinand  L 
grants  Constitution. — Conference  of  Laybach — Revoca- 
tion of  Franchise.— Political  persecution.- Ferdinand  IL 
and  his  relations  with  Liberalism. — The  Bandiera  brothers. 
— Revolutions  of  1848. — Ferdinand  II.  grants  Constitution. 
—Sicily  in  1848.— Offer  of  Crown  to  Duke  of  Genoa.— Dis- 
missal of  Liberal  Ministry— Filangieri  in  Sicily. — Bombard- 
ment of  Messina.— Fall  of  Palermo. — Lord  Minto  interme- 
diary in  subsequent  negotiations 15 

CHAPTER  II. 
Ferdinand  II.  attempts  to  free  himself  from  Parliamentary 
restraints.— Disorders  ii  Naples.— Flight  of  Pius  IX.  to 
Gaeta. — Revolution  in  Rome.— Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany 
seeks  refuge  at  Gaeta.— Charlas  Albert's  offer  of  assist- 
ance.—Gioberti's  policy  misrepresented  in  Piedmont. — 
French  intervention.- Ferdinand  meets  Gariba'di's  forces 
at  Palestrina.— Defeat  of  Neapolitans  at  Velletri.— Resto- 
ration of  the  Pope. — International  relations  of  Kingdom 
of  Naples. —England  and  France  during  Sicilian  revolu- 
tion.— Mazzini  and  "  Young  Italy."— Parliamentary  com- 
plications in  Naples. — Mr.  Morrison's  letter  to  Daniel 
Webster.- Ferdinand  seeks  to  abolish  Franchises 86 

CHAPTER  ni. 
Factors  which  undermined  Neapolitan  Throne. — Idea  of  Na- 
tional Unity.— Characteristics  of  lower  classes.— Educa- 
tional opportunities.— University  of  Naples.— Colleges  of 
the  Jesuits.— Their  sphere  of  influence.— Measures  to 
check  spread  of  Liberal  theories. — Newspapers  and  the 
Press.— The  Aristocracy  and  its  relations  to  Public  Affairs. 
— Diplomatic  service.- The  Army  and  Navy,  and  their 
relations  with  the  Crown.— The  Swiss  Guard. — Politics  In 
the  Army.- Arsenals  and  Shipyards.— Taxation.— Police 
system. — International  influences.— Recall  of  English  and 
French  diplomatists.— Napoleon  III.  and  Prince  Murat. — 
Decline  of  Neapolitan  Diplomacy 68 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Count  Cavour's  projects  for  alliance  with  Naples.— The 
Plombifires'  interview.  —  Plans  of  Napoleon  III.  and 
Cavour. — Dynastic  ambitions. — Proposed  partition  of  the 
Peninsula. — Attempted  assassination  of  Ferdinand  II. — 
Milano  and  "Young  Italy." — Political  significance  of  at- 
tack.—Pisacane's  expedition. — The  '•  Cagliari  "  incident. 
— British  claims.— Lord  Malmesbury  on  transportation 
of  political  prisoners.  —  Diplomatic  interference — Fer- 
dinand's policy  from  1856-59  reviewed. — His  reactionary 
measures.— His  bigotry  and  superstitious 8S 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V.  PAQB 
Kaniage  of  Crown  Prince. — Ceremonies  in  Munich  and 
Trieste.— Ferdinand  starts  for  Adriatic  coast.— Incidents 
of  the  journey  .—The  suspicious  illness  at  Ariano.— Accusa- 
tions against  the  Bishop. — The  Court  reaches  Bari. — 
Arrival  of  Maria  Sophia.— Her  meeting  with  Francis  and 
members  of  his  family. — Ferdinand's  illness  increases. — 
The  Count  of  Syracuse  arrives.— The  return  to  Naples.— 
Alarming  news  from  Turin.— Napoleon  III.  and  Victor 
Emmanuel. — Opinions  of  foreign  royalty  visiting  Naples. 
— Details  of  Ferdinand's  last  days.— His  death lOS 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Expectations  of  a  change  of  policy. — Events  in  Northern 
Italy.— Their  influences  on  Naples.— Accession  of  Francis 
n. — Ferdinand's  second  marriage.— Education  of  Francis. 
— Life  at  the  Neapolitan  Court  during  his  youth. — His 
character  and  early  training.^The  religious  influences. — 
Want  of  political  training.— The  "  Camarilla  "  ;  its  com- 
position and  objects.— Influence  of  the  Queen-Mother. — 
The  Count  of  Syracuse —  His  surroundings  and  political 
ambitions.  —  Palace  intrigues.  —  Conspiracy  in  favor  of 
CountofTrani 121 

CHAPTER  VII. 

An  envoy  from  Turin. — Proposals  for  alliance  between  Naples 
and  Piedmont. — French  and  English  diplomatic  relations 
are  resumed. — Royal  proclamation  eulogizing  Ferdinand — 
Filangieri  at  the  bead  of  the  Government.— His  previous 
career. — Political  problems  confronting  him. — Count  Sal- 
mour's  mission. — Opposition  to  alliance. — Mazzini's 
schemes.- Action  of  Swiss  Government.— Revolt  of  Swiss 
Guard. — Massacre  of  same.^Swiss  regiments  disbanded. — 
Kossuth  on  situation  in  Naples.— Court  functions  and  etl- 

auette. — Abstention  of  aristocracy. — Their  S3rmpathies  for 
[urat.- 186 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
POangieri's  political  sympathies.- Napoleon  III. :  his  aims 
and  policy. — Cavour's  policy. — Plan  for  partition  of  Papal 
States.— Count  Salmour's  failure. — Vlllafranca. — Cavour 
resigns. — Rumors  from  Sicily. — Filangieri's  resignation. — 
His  retirement  at  Sorrento.— Blunders  of  the  Administra- 
tion.—Cavour  to  Marquis  d'Azeglio.— Lord  Palmerston 
on  Cavour. — An  Italian  Confederation. — Napoleon's  em- 
barrassments.— Sir  James  Hudson  and  his  associates. — 
English  policy  in  Italian  question.— Opinions  of  Prince 
Consort. — Diplomacy  at  Turm. — Marquis  Villamarina  goes 
to  Naples.— His  instructions.— His  report  on  situation  at 
Naples 1S4 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Efforts  to  secure  alliance. — Cavour  returns  to  office. — His 
correspondence  with  Villamarina. — Prudential  policy. — 
Cession  of  Nice  and  Savoy. — The  reasons  for  same.— vil- 
lamarina's  reports.— Distrust  and  opposition  excited  by 
cession  of  territory. — Cavour's  relations  with  Kossuth  and 
Hungarian  patriots. — Cavour  and  European  Diplomacy. 
— Victor  Emmanuel's  letter  to  King  of  Naples. — Deter- 
mined opposition  to  alliance 171 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  X.  PAO« 


Revol 


evolutlonaryplotting.— Morelli  in  Calabria.— Garibaldi  and 
Tennyson. — Preparations  for  Garibaldi's  expedition. — Maz- 
Eini  indorses  Unity  and  Victor  Emmanuel. — Conspiracy 
and  Massacre  of  La  Gancia.— Risin^fs  in  Sicily,  their  repres- 
sion.— Diplomatic  protests. — Nunziante's  mission. — Ru- 
mors of  Garibaldi's  expedition.— Plans  to  frustrate  same. 
— Garibaldi  lands  at  Marsala. — Lanza  sent  to  Sicily. — His 
methods  of  combating  revolution.— Sicily  welcomes  Gari- 
baldi   IW 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Cavour  and  the  Sicilian  expedition.— His  relations  with 
Garibaldi. — Diplomatic  perils. — Garibaldi  a  Republican. — 
His  letter  to  Victor  Emmanuel. — Cavour  to  d'Azeglio  con- 
cerning  expedition. — He  explains  position  of  Piedmont. — 
Cavour  is  blamed. — His  defence  of  his  policy. — A  Russian 
protest. — Cavour  and  European  Diplomacy. — Anecdotes 
from  his  private  correspondence. — His  relations  with 
French  and  English  politicians.— Louis  Napoleon's  en- 
tanglements  21S 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Anxiety  at  Naples. — Filangieri's  counsels. — He  leaves  Naples. 
— Francis  sends  De  Martino  to  Paris. — His  reception  by 
French  Emperor. — The  Emperor's  advice  and  warning. — 
The  "  Camarilla's  "  accusations.  —Francis  grants  Constitu- 
tion.—The  Pope  antagonistic  to  Piedmontese  alliance. — 
The  Franchise  coldly  received  by  Liberals.— Riots  In 
Naples.— The  application  for  alliance.— Cavour's  embar- 
rassments.—His  conditions.— Arrival  of  Neapolitan  Envoys 
at  Turin.— Their  demands.  —  Victor  Emmanuel  writes 
Garibaldi.— The  General  refuses  obedience.— Cavour  con- 
fides to  D'Azeglio  details  of  his  policy 287 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Promulgation  of  Constitution.— Preparations  for  elec- 
tions.- Amnesty  of  political  prisoners.— Tumultuous  re- 
ception of  exiles.— Action  of  troops.— Disorders  in  the 
capital.— Romfvno's  influence.— Romano  ;  his  character 
and  antecedents.— The  Queen-Mother  goes  to  Gaeta.— In- 
trigues of  the  "Camarilla."— Romano's  further  demands.— 
Insulting  resignations.  —  The  Press  embarrasses  the 
Government.— Schism  in  Revolutionary  Committees.— 
Romano's  revelations.- His  political  memoirs.— Cavour's 
opportunity.— His  despatch  to  Envoy  at  St.  Petersburg.— 
His  remarks  to  Nisco.— Disaffection  in  Neapolitan  Army. 
—The  Ministerial  programme.— The  elections  postponed..  260 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Qaribaldl  crosses  the  Straits.— Preoccupations  of  Cavour.— 
Plan  to  neutralize  Garibaldi's  prestige. —The  mission  to 
ChambSry.— Napoleon's  encouragement.— Conspiracy  of 
the  "  Camarilla."  —Seizure  of  arms.— Expulsion  of  Count 
of  Aquila.— Francis  amidst  conflicting  counsels.— Ro- 
mano's memorandum.— Letter  of  the  Count  of  Syracus^ 
—Francis  addresses  himself  to  Garibaldi.— Indecision  of 
King.— Energetic  policy  of  Cabinet.— Resignation  of  same. 
—Garibaldi  at  the  gates.— Francis  decides  to  leave  Naples.  ztO 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XV.  PAOI 

Farewell  proclamation  and  protest.— Suspicions  of  treach- 
ery.— Preparations  for  departure.— The  gunboat  "Mes- 
sagero." — Reception  of  Ministers  and  Diplomatists. — Tiie 
Sovereigns  leave  the  Palace.— Refusal  of  Neapolitan  vFar- 
ships  to  follow  King.— The  voyage  to  Gaeta.— The  King 
and  Queen  during  journey.— Arrival  at  Gaeta ...  2M 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Naples  remains  calm.— Offer  to  land  Piedmontese  troops 
refused. — Commission  appointed  to  meet  Garibaldi.— His 
communications  with  Romano. — An  officious  Provisional 
Government. — Garibaldi  enters  Naples.— His  reception  by 
populace.— Evacuation  by  Royalist  troops.— Garibaldi's 
loyalty  suspected  at  Turin.— Romano's  attempts  at  recon- 
ciliation.— Mistakes  of  Dictator's  Government.  —The  Pied- 
montese ultimatum  to  the  Pope. — Cavour's  justification. 
— Piedmontese  troops  enter  Papal  States.— Diplomatic 
protests. — Napoleon  privately  approves iOO 

CHAPTER  XVn. 
Francis  at  Gaeta.— He  forms  a  Ministry.— Instructions  to 
local  officials. —Address  to  the  Army.- The  battles  of  the 
Voltumo.— Garibaldi's  submission.— Political  excesses  in 
Naples.— Piedmontese  troops  enter  Neapolitan  territory.— 
Cavour's  audacious  counsels. — His  belief  in  non-interven- 
tion of  France  and  England  .-Austrian  hostility.— Victor 
Emmanuel  at  Ancona.— His  proclamation  to  Southern 
populations.— The  "Times"  on  situation.— Appointment 
of  Pro-Dictator  at  Naples.— The  Plebiscite.— -Meeting  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  and  Garibaldi.— Fall  of  Capua.— Victor 
Emmanuel  in  Naples. — Departure  of  Garibaldi.— Honors 
and  rewards  offered  him.— Alexander  Dumas  in  Naples. 
—His  opinion  of  Garibaldi 317 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Operations  on  the  Garigliano.— Failure  of  fleet  to  co-oper- 
ate.—Napoleon's  enigmatical  policy.— Conference  at  Var- 
sovie.— Defeat  of  Royalists.— Retreat  on  Gaeta.— The  for- 
tress of  Gaeta.— Its  garrison.— Members  of  Royal  Family 
assembled  there.— Early  days  of  the  siege.— Napoleon 
proposes  armistice.— Francis  writes  Emperor  refusing  to 
capitulate.— Action  of  Powers.— Cavour's  influence  over 
English  statesmen.— Lord  Palmerston's  assertions 340 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Siege  of  Gaeta.— Bombardment.— Diplomatic  interfer- 
ence.—Ciaklini  makes  unexpected  attack.— Francis  re- 
jects proposals  for  capitulation.— His  letter  to  the  Em- 
peror Napoleon  III.— Departure  of  French  fleet.— Action 
of  Royalist  officers.- Heioism  of  Queen  Maria  Sophia.— 
Typhus  Epidemic— Negative  results  of  bombardment.— 
Series  of  catastrophes  —Renewed  attacks.- Terrific  ex- 
plosions.- A  truce.— General  Milon  negotiates  surrender. 
—Conditions  of  capitulation.— Departure  of  King.— 
Francis  addresses  troops.— He  goes  to  Rome.— His  wan- 
derings and  death.— Surrender  of  Messina  and  Civitella. 
—Victor  Emmanuel  proclaimed  King  of  Italy.— Con- 
elusion 3^ 


PREFACE. 


In  presenting  the  following  study  the  antlior 
lays  no  claim  to  the  discovery  of  recondite,  or 
hitherto  unpublished,  documents.  His  aim 
has  been  to  place  before  readers  unfamiliar 
with  the  historical  and  biographical  literature 
of  Italy  and  France,  a  consecutive  narrative  of 
a  curious  episode  of  contemporaneous  history, 
the  true  inwardness  of  which  is  little  known 
outside  a  small  coterie  of  students  interested 
in  the  social  and  diplomatic  undercurrents  of 
this  period  of  Italian  political  regeneration. 

A  great  mass  of  confusingly  conflicting  ma- 
terial, treating  of  the  Italian  political  renais- 
sance, is  at  the  disposal  of  students  in  Italy 
and  France,  as  also  in  Germany  and  Austria ; 
bat  the  author  is  unacquainted  with  any  work 
in  English  dealing  exclusively  with  the  national 
and  international  causes,  political  as  well  as 
social,  which  contributed  to  the  collapse  of  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies. 

11 


12  PREFACE, 

Most  readers  are,  of  coarse,  aware  that  th« 
direct  result  of  Garibaldi's  filibustering  expe- 
dition to  Sicily  was  the  annexation  of  Naples, 
and  of  that  island,  to  the  recently  extended  do- 
minions of  King  Victor  Emmanuel  II.  ;  but  the 
circumstances  which  made  it  possible  for  this 
handful  of  adventurers  to  overturn  the  organ- 
ized military,  naval  and  civil  institutions  of  a 
State  numbering  nearly  eleven  millions  of  in- 
habitants, are  neither  adequately  understood 
nor  appreciated  by  many  professing  an  interest 
in  the  historical  data  of  this  century. 

For  this  purpose  a  study  of  the  life  and  times 
of  the  two  Princes  whose  benighted  policy  con- 
tributed more  directly  to  the  collapse  of  their 
Dynasty  (which  had  ruled  nearly  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  years)  has  been  necessary. 

In  formulating  his  estimate  of  the  charac- 
ters and  influences  of  Ferdinand  II.,  and  his 
son,  Francis  II.,  of  Naples,  the  writer's  authori- 
ties have  been  selected  on  the  most  eclectic 
principles. 

Amongst  Italian  writers  there  exists,  not  un- 
naturally, a  tendency  to  either  pass  the  sponge 
over  the  blood-stained  record  of  past  years,  or 
to  magnify  the  evils  of  an  abhorred  system. 
Dispassionate  criticism  is  looked  for  in  vain 
amongst  the  authors  who  were  witnesses  of,  or 
actors  in,  the  drama,  and  whose  prejudices  or 


PREFACE.  IS 

personal  sympathies  warped  their  judgment. 
Nevertheless  such  divergent  testimony  has 
been  taken  as  offered  by  Nisco,  "  Memor/* 
Bersezio,  Ghiala,  Giampaolo,  Rattazzi,  Insogna, 
Villamarini,  Bomano,  Zini,  Garibaldi,  Settem- 
brini,  Bianchi,  de  Cesare,  White- Mario,  and 
many  others  too  numerous  for  mention  here. 
Besides  these,  many  ephemeral  pamphlets  and 
documents,  published  contemporaneously  with 
the  events  criticised  or  recorded,  have  been 
perused  and  digested,  with  every  endeavor  to 
arrive  at  a  just  and  unbiased  appreciation  of 
their  value,  and  to  reconcile  widely  diversified 
opinions,  and  statements,  by  the  aid  of  a  com- 
parison of  facts,  and  the  light  thrown  upon 
them  by  the  recent  publication  (in  Italy)  of 
confidential  correspondence,  hitherto  inacces- 
sible. 

The  author  has,  moreover,  been  fortunate  in 
enjoying  the  privilege  of  personal  acquaintance, 
or  correspondence,  with  several  of  the  minor 
actors  in  the  drama  he  describes,  and  has  thus 
been  enabled  to  gather  opinions  and  criticisms 
at  first  hand  of  a  period  which,  although  hardly 
remote,  is  yet  sufficiently  removed  from  the 
present  generation  to  be  endowed  with  tho 
dignity  of  History. 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  gratitude 
lor  the  courtesies  extended  him  by  Commenda- 


14  PREFACE. 

tore  Giacomo  Malvano,  Senator  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Italy,  and  General  Secretary  of  the  Italian 
Foreign  Office  ;  and  to  the  Duke  de  San-Mar- 
tino  di  Montalbo,  Agent  of  the  Neapolitan 
Bonrbons  in  Rome,  whose  constant  fidelity, 
and  indefatigable  labors  in  the  service  of  his 
late  Sovereign,  compel  the  admiration  and  re- 
spect of  all  parties. 


THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  letters  from  Naples.— Their  effect  on  Europe 
and  in  Naples. — Traces  of  the  reign  of  Murat. — Ferdinand  I. 
grants  Constitution. — Conference  of  Laybach. — Revocation 
of  Franchise. — Political  persecution.— Ferdinand  II.  and  his 
relations  with  Liberalism. — The  Bandiera  brothers. — Revo- 
lutions of  1848. — Ferdinand  II.  grants  Constitution. — Sicily 
in  1848. — Offer  of  Crown  to  Duke  of  Genoa. — Dismissal  of 
Liberal  Ministry— Filangieri  in  Sicily. —Bombardment  of 
Messina.— Fall  of  Palermo.- Lord  Minto  intermediary  in 
subsequent  negotiations. 

When  Mr.  Gladstone  startled  the  world  in 
1851  by  his  famous  letters  to  Lord  Aberdeen, 
in  which  he  described  the  administration  of  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies  as  "  the  negation 
of  God  erected  into  a  system  of  government," 
the  catching  phrase  found  a  ready  circulation 
throughout  Europe  and  America. 

The  letters  were  speedily  translated  into 
many  tongues,  and  as  rapidly  disseminated  by 

15 


16  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

those  who  had  for  years  been  agitating,  within 
and  without  the  realms  of  the  Neapolitan 
Bourbons,  for  reforms.  Now  for  the  first  time 
the  deeds  of  darkness  enacted  by  a  Government, 
long  known  as  the  most  retrograde  and  bigoted, 
were  brought  under  the  searching  light  of 
public  opinion  abroad.  The  barbarous  repres- 
sion of  the  Liberalism  of  1848  had  passed 
almost  unnoticed  at  a  moment  when  most  Eu- 
ropean governments  were  engaged  in  strug- 
gling with,  and  in  some  instances  succumbing 
to,  similar  popular  outbursts.  The  government 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples,  or  of  the  Two  Sic- 
ilies, as  it  was  officially  termed,  was  known 
to  be  despotic,  and  those  people  out  of  Italy 
who  thought  about  it  at  all  were  vaguely  aware 
that  Ferdinand  II.  kept  regiments  of  Swiss 
guards  for  his  protection.  Some  of  those  who 
had  gone  deeper  into  the  affairs  of  the  State 
knew  that  Ferdinand  after  having  had  wrung 
from  him  a  Constitution  which  he  solemnly, 
and  with  unnecessary  reiteration,  had  sworn  to 
uphold  and  defend,  once  the  peril  averted,  had 
quickly  perjured  himself,  setting  the  incon- 
venient document  aside,  and  devoted  his  ener- 
gies to  venting  his  fury  upon  all  those  who 
had  advocated  its  adoption.  But  to  what 
extent  the  despotism  was  carried  ;  how  rigor- 
ously liberal  ideas  were    crushed ;    to    what 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  17 

degree  of  cruel  repression  all  intellectual  or 
moral  progress  was  doomed,  few,  if  any,  had 
had  the  curiosity  to  inquire.  The  energies 
expended  ;  the  principles  involved  ;  the  intel- 
lectual and  social  impulses,  struggling  for  life 
and  mastery  ;  the  real  political  nullity  of  an 
obsolete  system  galvanized  into  a  semblance  of 
vitality  by  unreasoning  abhorrence  of  liberal 
innovations  were  truths  ignored  by  the  world 
until  the  great  English  statesman  and  philan- 
thropist indignantly  flnng  the  results  of  his 
investigations  before  the  tribunals  of  civiliza- 
tion. 

Lord  Palmerston  stated  in  Parliament  that 
lie  had  caused  reprints  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  now 
famous  letters  to  be  sent  to  each  of  Her  Maj- 
esty's Representatives  in  Europe,  directing 
them  to  hand  each  government  a  copy  of  the 
pamphlet,  with  the  hope  that,  by  affording  an 
opportunity  for  its  perusal,  their  influence 
might  be  secured  in  promoting  the  distinguished 
writer's  object. 

On  the  government  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  Mr. 
Gladstone's  letters,  emphasized  and  given  offi- 
cial significance  by  Lord  Palmerston's  vigorous 
despatch,  produced  no  impression  whatever. 
The  latter  document  was  carefully  withheld 
from  Ferdinand  by  his  ministers,  who  casually 
referred  to  the  subject  as  **  one  of  Lord  Pal- 


18  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

merston's  usual  impertinences.'*  When,  how- 
ever, in  spite  of  ministerial  precautions,  the 
King  did  become  acquainted  with  the  text  of 
**Palmerston's  impertinence,"  he  dismissed 
the  subject  with  the  oracular  remark  that  it 
was  *'  an  important  and  well  written  docu- 
ment.'* 

It  was  not  until  some  years  later  (1856),  that 
Count  Cavour,  during  the  Congress  of  Paris, 
cleverly  exploited  the  wide-spread  indignation 
at  the  methods  employed  by  the  Neapolitan 
Bourbons  in  a  memorable  speech,  which  may 
be  said  to  have  dealt  the  death-blow  to  the  as- 
cendency of  Austrian  influence  in  the  Penin- 
sula, and  thus  prepared  the  way  for  the  down- 
fall of  the  obnoxious  dynasty. 

The  French  occupation  and  reign  of  Marat 
had  left  indelible  traces  of  liberty,  and  had 
dowered  the  country  with  really  progressive 
and  liberally  intentioned  institutions,  some  of 
which  were  in  many  respects  superior  to  those 
at  that  moment  (1851)  existing  in  other  Italian 
States.  The  evil  lay  not  in  the  laws  and  insti- 
tutions themselves  so  much  as  in  the  fact  that 
the  administration  thereof  had  become  either 
a  dead  letter,  or  totally  corrupt.  Murat  had 
done  his  utmost  to  model  his  new  possessions 
on  the  lines  established  by  his  imperial  brother- 
in-law  in  France.     To  him  were  due  the  re- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  19 

forms  in  the  antiquated  legal  procedure;  the 
abolishment  of  class  privileges  ;  the  curtail- 
ment of  ecclesiastical  prerogatives  and  time- 
honored  exemptions  of  Church  property.  The 
City  of  Naples  is  indebted  to  him  for  its  fine 
promenade  ;  the  construction  of  the  only  mil- 
itary roads,  and  engineering  works  of  public 
utility,  were  the  result  of  his  efforts.  When, 
after  the  fall  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  I.,  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  recalled  Ferdinand  I.  from 
his  refuge  in  Sicily,  and  restored  to  him  his 
dominions,  he  promptly  set  about  abolishing 
or  rendering  innocuous  all  the  reforms  intro- 
duced during  the  reign  of  the  French  General, 
and  speedily  had  the  kingdom  again  under  the 
despotic  rule  of  the  earlier  years  during  which 
Lord  Nelson  and  Lady  Hamilton  had  been  his 
intimates,  and  the  latter  his  counsellor.  He 
did  indeed,  in  dire  distress,  grant  a  Constitu- 
tion to  his  subjects,  and  greatly  impressed  all 
who  witnessed  the  imposing  ceremony  attend- 
ing his  taking  the  oath  thereto,  by  solemnly 
adding  of  his  own  accord  as  his  eyes  sought  the 
Cross  over  the  altar  :  "  Omnipotent  God,  who 
with  infinite  penetration  lookest  into  the  hearts 
of  men  and  into  the  future,  if  I  lie,  or  if  one 
day  I  should  be  faithless  to  my  oath,  do  Thou 
at  this  instant  annihilate  me." 

Austria,  however,  soon  aided  him  in  ridding 


20  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

himself  of  troublesome  obligations,  and  his  re- 
turn from  the  Conference  of  Laybach  was  the 
signal  for  wholesale  persecution  of  all  who  had 
been  instrumental  in  influencing  his  decision  to 
grant  the  odious  franchise.  Farini  computed 
at  eight  hundred  those  who  suffered  death  in 
the  cause  of  liberty  during  the  years  1821  and 
1822  ;  but  of  the  untold  host  who  languished 
in  dungeons  or  dragged  out  a  miserable  exist- 
ence in  the  galleys  ;  and  of  those  more  fortu- 
nate who  found  safety  in  exile,  no  estimate  can 
be  formed. 

Fortunately  for  his  subjects,  Ferdinand  I. 
died  in  1825.  The  reign  of  his  successor  varied 
only  in  that  it  was  considerably  shorter,  and 
consequently  less  onerous  to  this  enslaved 
people. 

Since  1830,  when  he  succeeded  his  father, 
Francis  I.,  Ferdinand  the  Second  had  been  oc- 
cupied at  intervals  in  the  suppression  of  revolu- 
tionary movements  of  greater  or  less  importance 
both  in  Sicily  and  the  mainland.  The  expecta- 
tions founded  on  his  leanings  towards  Liberalism 
which  had  possessed  some  shadow  of  proba- 
bility before  he  ascended  the  Throne,  quickly 
evaporated  when  he  assumed  the  Crown.  His 
first  marriage,  with  a  daughter  of  the  House  of 
Savoy,  had  given  satisfaction  to  his  subjects, 
but  she  was  all  too  quickly  succeeded  by  an 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  21 

Austrian  Princess  with  whose  advent  the  influ- 
ence of  her  native  country  once  more  became 
paramount.  Discontent  and  insubordination 
were  rife  throughout  the  realm,  more  especi- 
ally in  Sicily ;  but  the  risings  were  sporadic, 
totally  lacking  in  competent  leaders  or  cohesive 
action,  and  therefoi-e  more  easily  trampled 
under.  That  of  the  Bandiera  brothers  in  1844, 
owing  to  the  romantic  interest  attached,  suc- 
ceeded for  a  moment  in  arousing  the  sympa- 
thies of  Europe.  These  two  young  Venetians 
of  distinguished  family,  having  deserted  from 
the  Austrian  service,  enrolled  themselves  under 
the  banner  of  Mazzini's  society  of  **  Young 
Italy,"  and  accompanied  by  a  handful  of  fol- 
lowers, embarked  upon  one  of  the  most  heroic, 
but  utterly  fantastic,  enterprises  of  modern 
times.  Having  effected  a  landing  in  Calabria 
they  were  quickly  captured,  and  perished  mis- 
erably for  the  cause  they  represented. 

The  year  1848  was,  however,  to  witness  far 
more  serious  upheavals  of  the  old  order,  not 
only  in  the  Kingdom  of  Naples,  but  throughout 
continental  Europe. 

In  Piedmont,  Charles  Albert  became  consti- 
tutional King  of  the  nation  which  had  wel- 
comed him  as  the  recognized  head  of  Liberal- 
ism in  1821,  when  for  a  brief  period  he  held  the 
Regency.     Ten  days  later  Pius  IX.  who  had 


22  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

astounded  conservative  Europe  a  couple  of  years 
earlier  by  his  sympathy  with  the  abhorred  creeds 
of  reform,  timorously  yielded  to  the  importuni- 
ties of  his  subjects,  and  issued  the  Politico- 
ecclesiastical  Franchise,  paraphrased  a  Consti- 
tution, which  was  to  prove  his  undoing.  The 
revolution  of  February  had  deposed  Louis 
Philippe  as  King  of  the  French ;  and  even 
Austria  and  Germany  were  in  the  throes  of 
internecine  strife.  Italy  was  ablaze  from  Sicily 
to  the  Alps ;  and  to  add  to  the  general  con- 
flagration Charles  Albert  declared  war  against 
Austria  with  public  sympathy  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  Peninsula  behind  him. 
On  February  10,  1848,  Ferdinand  yielded  to 
the  popular  clamor  which  threatened  to  sweep 
away  his  Throne,  and  promulgated  a  Constitu- 
tion modelled  on  that  given  to  the  French  in 
1830.  Shortly  after,  an  army,  under  General 
Pepe,  marched  bravely  out  of  Naples  amidst 
indescribable  enthusiasm,  on  its  way  north  to 
re-enforce  the  operations  against  Austria.  This 
last  astounding  concession  was,  however,  a  mere 
feint  to  silence  the  obsessions  of  the  Liberals, 
for  its  Commander  carried  in  his  pocket  in- 
structions not  to  cross  the  Po.  The  subsequent 
•events  at  Custozza  and  Novara  furnished  an 
excuse  for  its  recall,  and  although  General 
Pepe  and  a  few  of  his  followers  refused  to  con- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  28 

form  to  this  change  of  policy,  and  actually  did 
Join  the  Venetians,  the  main  body  of  the  troops 
obediently  returned  to  Naples.  In  May  of  the 
same  year,  on  the  date  fixed  for  the  meeting  of 
the  Parliament  which  had  been  convoked  in 
Naples,  riots  broke  out  in  the  city,  and  furnished 
a  pretext  to  postpone  the  meeting  of  the 
Chamber,  as  well  as  to  suspend  the  Constitu- 
tion. There  is  small  doubt  but  that  the  whole 
trouble  was  the  direct  result  of  intrigues  and 
inspirations  from  high  quarters.  The  King 
felt  he  could  rely  upon  the  Swiss  regiments  and 
knew  that  his  friends  the  'Mazzaroni"  were 
always  on  hand  when  an  opportunity  for  dis- 
order and  plunder  presented.  As  a  conse- 
quence barricades  were  erected,  palaces  were 
plundered  and  burned,  while  the  streets  were 
strewn  with  the  dead  and  dying.  True  to  his 
nickname,  King  "  Bomba  "  ordered  the  guns  of 
the  forts  trained  upon  the  town,  and  Naples 
was  quickly  bombarded  into  subjection. 

In  Sicily  the  revolution  was  not  so  expedi- 
tiously disposed  of.  For  over  a  year  the  island 
had  been  seething  in  suppressed  fury,  bursting 
forth,  however,  in  local  revolts  where  the  blind 
tyranny  of  the  oppressors  goaded  the  miserable 
sufferers  to  madness :  risings  each  in  turn 
smothered  with  accompaniments  of  untold 
cruelty  and  barbarism.      "Nothing  is   more 


24  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

powerfully  demonstrative  of  the  inflexible  bru- 
tality of  the  Bourbon  rule,"  says  Stillmau, 
'*  than  this  persistence,  in  the  face  of  such  terri- 
ble lessons,  of  the  pleasure-loving  people  of  the 
southern  provinces,  in  their  efforts  to  escape 
from  their  chains." 

The  inhabitants  of  the  unfortunate  island 
demanded  the  Constitution  of  1812  which  had 
been  accorded  them  under  the  guarantee  of 
England,  and  impatient  of  delay  had  broken 
out  in  insurrection  with  the  opening  of  the 
new  year  (1848).  After  protracted  fighting 
Palermo  was  evacuated  by  the  roval  troops  who 
fell  back  on  Messina.  Flushed  with  success, 
and  secretly  trusting  in  aid  from  England,  a 
representative  Sicilian  Parliament,  which  had 
been  hastily  convened,  decided  on  the  deposi- 
tion of  the  Bourbon  dynasty,  and  agreed  to 
offer  the  Crown  to  the  young  Duke  of  Genoa, 
sou  of  Charles  Albert  of  Savoy,  and  younger 
brother  of  Victor  Emmanuel.  This  body,  con- 
sisting as  it  did  of  men  of  the  highest  standing 
and  influence  in  the  land,  both  as  regards  birth 
and  education,  gave  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
universal  character  of  the  prevailing  discontent. 
The  realization  of  the  project  was,  however, 
doomed  to  failure  quite  as  much  on  account  of 
the  grave  local  political  compl  ications  to  which 
it  would  give  rise,  as  by  reason  of  the  defeats 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  25 

and  abdication  of  Charles  Albert,  and  the  sab- 
seqnent  inevitable  restoration  of  the  predomi- 
nance of  Austrian  influence  from  Milan  to 
Naples.  Although  the  offer  of  their  Crown  by 
the  Sicilians  was  given  a  quasi-international 
signiflcance  from  the  fact  that  the  members  of 
the  Commission  charged  to  negotiate  with 
Charles  Albert  were  conveyed  from  Palermo  to 
Genoa  in  English  and  French  war  vessels,  which 
had  recognized  and  saluted  the  tricolor  flag, 
the  support  of  these  nations  was  purely  moral ; 
while  England  immediately  after  the  reverses 
of  Piedmont,  made  it  clearly  understood  that 
such  it  should  remain.  Furthermore  it  is 
doubtful  if,  in  view  of  the  modifications  and 
exactions  now  introduced  into  the  original 
Constitution  of  1812,  and  by  which  the  Sicilian 
Parliament  had  hedged  about  and  cramped  the 
royal  prerogatives  and  dignity,  Charles  Albert 
would  have  consented  to  allow  his  son  to  accept 
the  ofiFer.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Ferdinand  had 
notified  the  Piedmontese  Court  that  a  favorable 
consideration  of  the  Sicilian  offer  must  mean 
war  with  Naples,  and  neither  Charles  Albert  nor 
his  successor  were  in  a  position  to  force  an  issue 
hazardous  at  the  best,  and  which  under  existing 
circumstances  would  have  been  suicidal.  The 
Commission  was  therefore  assured  of  the  grati- 
tude of  the  House  of  Savoy  for  the  honor  it 


26  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

sought  to  bestow  on  one  of  its  members,  but 
diplomatically  informed  that  Charles  Albert 
could  neither  accept  nor  refuse  the  Crown 
offered  his  son  without  a  careful  consideration 
of  the  highest  interests  of  Italy.  The  Duke  of 
Genoa  added  personally  that  he  would  in  any 
event  obey  his  father,  and  be  guided  by  the 
higher  interests  of  the  Italian  cause  before  his 
own.  So  the  subject  was  allowed  to  lapse, 
while  the  Sicilians  on  returning  to  their  island 
soon  had  their  hands  and  hearts  full  with  the 
far  more  momentous  issues  of  the  vengeance 
wreaked  upon  them  by  the  monarch  they  had 
so  lately  declared  ''forever  deposed." 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  Ferdinand 
would  submit  passively  to  the  insulting  decrees 
of  the  Sicilian  Parliament,  yet  the  disturbances 
nearer  home  both  in  Naples  and  Calabria  were 
of  such  a  character  as  to  counsel  prudence. 
Then  again  the  early  achievements  of  the  Sar- 
dinian arms  at  Goito  and  Milan,  and  Liberalist 
uprisings  throughout  Europe  decided  him  to 
await  as  far  as  possible  the  issue  of  current 
events  before  committing  himself  irretrievably 
to  a  policy  which  might  prove  disastrourf. 
Ferdinand  had  contrived  to  reassure  Austria  as 
to  the  true  inwardness  of  the  armed  demonstra- 
tion on  the  Po,  while  cunningly  propitiating  the 
tide  of  Liberalism  he  momentarily  could  not 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  27 

stem.  To  this  policy  was  due  the  procrastina- 
tion of  military  operations  against  the  revolted 
island.  Once  it  had  become  reasonably  certain 
which  way  the  wind  was  going  to  blow  as  in- 
dicated by  such  straws  as  the  Austrian  suc- 
cesses in  Hungary  and  at  Castozza  and  Volta, 
and  the  purely  platonic  attitude  of  England 
and  France  in  the  Sicilian  question,  he  began 
the  operations  which  had  been  secretly  in 
preparation  during  the  period  of  uncertainty. 

The  Liberal  Ministry  was  promptly  dismissed, 
its  members  and  supporters  being  loaded  with 
chains  and  thrust  into  the  prisons  or  galleys. 
A  reactionary  Cabinet  replaced  the  audacious 
advocates  of  Liberty  and  Reform,  and  taking 
their  cue  from  their  royal  master,  devoted  their 
energies  to  ferreting  out  the  adherents  to  the 
policy  of  their  predecessors  in  office,  and 
suffocating  liberal  aspirations,  even  of  the 
mildest  forms,  in  the  dungeons  of  Nisida, 
Procida,  Ischia,  or  worse.  Carlo  Poerio  and 
Settembrini,  the  former  a  few  months  previously 
the  apparently  valued  counsellor  of  the  King  ; 
the  latter  a  distinguished  and  influential  man  of 
letters,  were  amongst  the  most  notable  victims. 

Having  thus  made  atonement  to  Austria  for 
the  temporary  desertion  of  the  principles  of 
Absolutism,  Ferdinand  was  able  to  give  undi- 
yided  attention  to  the  Sicilian  rebels. 


28  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Towards  the  end  of  August  General  Filan- 
gieri,  a  veteran  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  who 
had  been  entrusted  by  Ferdinand  with  the  com- 
mand of  the  expedition,  started  forth  on  the 
re-conquest  of  Messina,  the  key  to  successful 
operations  in  the  island.  Twenty  thousand 
men  had  been  massed  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Keggio,  the  Calabrian  port  facing  Messina. 
Colonel  Orsini,  who  commanded  the  Sicilian 
troops  occupying  Messina,  had  had  frequent 
brushes  with  the  Royalists  who  continued  to 
hold  the  citadel  of  that  town  after  the  retreat 
from  Palermo.  He  had  repeatedly  implored 
the  Council  of  War  sitting  at  Palermo  to  allow 
him  reinforcements  in  order  to  dislodge  the 
enemy  from  their  stronghold,  and  free  the 
island  from  Neapolitan  occupation  ;  but  his 
advice  had  been  systematically  disregarded,  and 
consequently  when  the  invading  army  landed 
the  Sicilians  found  themselves  between  two 
fires,  or  rather  three,  for  the  fleet  anchored 
before  the  town,  as  soon  as  Filangieri  had  ac- 
complished a  landing,  began  a  furious  bombard- 
ment. Under  cover  of  this,  General  Nunziante 
brought  his  division  to  the  shore,  close  under 
the  citadel,  and  co-operated  with  its  occupants 
in  the  attack  on  the  town.  Although  speedily 
reduced  to  a  mere  heap  of  ashes  the  city  de- 
fended  itself    stubbornly.     The   citizens   had 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  29 

sworn  to  perish  under  the  ruins  of  their  homes 
rather  than  return  to  an  allegiance  they  loathed, 
and  were  particularly  infuriated  by  the  partici- 
pation in  the  struggle  of  the  mercenaries  of 
the  Swiss  regiments.  The  slaughter  had  be- 
come 80  terrible  that  the  foreign  Consuls  im- 
plored Filangieri  to  grant  a  truce,  hoping  some 
mutual  agreement  might  be  reached.  Filan- 
gieri replied  that  he  would  order  his  men  to 
cease  firing  when  the  citizens  returned  to  their 
allegiance  to  their  lawful  Sovereign.  This  the 
desperate  defenders  still  stubbornly  refused  to 
do,  and  the  struggle  was  resumed,  the  Sicilians 
disputing  each  inch  of  their  soil,  but  yielding 
step  by  step,  and  street  by  street,  until  their 
every  stronghold  was  surrounded  and  captured. 
Heartrending  accounts  were  published  con- 
cerning the  unqualified  cruelty,  and  savage 
butchery,  practised  by  the  victorious  troops  on 
this  occasion.  Certain  it  is  that  the  English 
and  French  admirals  threatened  active  inter- 
vention should  Filangieri  not  moderate  the 
fury  of  his  soldiers.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  Filangieri  had  dismissed  the 
transports  wliich  conveyed  his  troops  across  the 
straits,  thus  cutting  off  all  escape  and  making 
a  complete  and  final  victory  imperative.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  has  been  already  stated,  the 
Sicilians  had  taken   oath  to   bury  themselves 


30  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

beneath  the  ruins  of  their  town  rather  than 
yield.  Thus  both  parties  were  rendered  des- 
perate :  a  war  to  the  death  had  been  declared, 
and  it  became  a  question  of  killing  or  being 
killed.  Undoubtedly  barbarous  cruelties  were 
perpetrated  on  both  sides  ;  unpardonable  license 
being  granted  the  victors  by  their  officers  ;  but 
the  sympathies  of  most  European  countries 
being  undeniably  with  the  oppressed,  the  con- 
temporaneous published  accounts  are  tinged 
with  obvious  exaggeration.  The  account  given 
by  an  eyewitness,  an  officer  of  the  Swiss  Muralt 
regiment,  who  published  his  experiences  in  1851, 
does  not  differ  materially  from  the  description 
of  any  battlefield  of  modern  civilization.  To 
the  attacks  made  upon  him  later,  both  in  his 
own  country  and  abroad,  for  the  enormities 
perpetrated  by  his  soldiery,  Filaugieri  replied 
with  counter  charges  against  the  rebels,  even 
going  so  far  as  to  state  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Messina  had  quartered  the  dead  bodies  of  the 
Swiss,  and  sold  the  flesh  in  the  streets  at  a 
penny  a  pound. 

The  proclamation  issued  by  Filaugieri  on 
taking  possession  of  the  town  certainly  conveys 
no  intimation  of  undue  vengeance.  After  in- 
viting the  former  municipal  officials  to  resume 
their  functions,  on  September  10  he  published 
an  edict  stating  that  His  Majesty,  ''the  loving 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  81 

father  of  his  people,  would  forget  the  past  mad- 
ness, being  persuaded  that  from  henceforward 
his  Sicilian  subjects  would  return  to  the  devoted 
and  faithful  allegiance  to  his  sacred  person." 
Of  course  it  may  be  objected  that  the  unfortu- 
nate inhabitants  of  Messina  had  small  choice 
in  the  matter,  while  it  may  be  further  argued 
that  the  determination  to  make  Messina  a  free 
port  in  order  that  its  prosperity  might  be  re- 
vived, was  not  altogether  a  disinterested  action 
on  the  part  of  those  who  were  to  administer  its 
ruined  finances.  If  we  would  find  a  reason  for 
such  suspicious  clemency  we  must  seek  a  polit- 
ical motive.  Ferdinand  realized  that  with  the 
fall  of  Messina  the  backbone  of  the  insurrec- 
tion was  broken,  and  it  was  greatly  to  his  in- 
terests to  win  back  the  remainder  of  the  island 
by  diplomacy  should  such  a  course  be  feasible, 
for  already  the  French  Republic,  to  say  nothing 
of  England,  gave  token  of  viewing  the  harsh 
repressive  measures  employed  with  none  too 
favorable  an  eye.  The  next  few  months 
demonstrated  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  of  pro- 
crastination, and  conciliatory  debate  and  discus- 
sion, pursued  by  the  King.  The  attitude  of 
Russia  greatly  influenced  the  pretensions  of  the 
French  Government  concerning  the  indepen- 
dent legislation  of  Sicily,  while  the  Austrian 
victories  made  Lord  Palmerston,  who  now  re- 


fug  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

mained  practically  alone  in  his  opposition  to 
Ferdinand's  methods  of  dealing  with  his  rcA'olted 
subjects,  still  less  inclined  to  become  actively 
involved  in  the  dispute. 

The  fall  of  Messina  was  closely  followed  by 
the  capitulation  of  Milazzo,  the  garrison  of 
which  fell  back  on  the  capital. 

Meanwhile  Palermo  still  remained  impenitent 
and  unpunished.  For  the  last  seven  months 
the  island  Parliament  had  been  frittering  away 
its  time  over  protracted  discussions,  and  the 
editing  of  magniloquent  proclamations,  which 
had  led  to  little  beyond  the  creation  of  personal 
jealousies  and  widening  of  party  enmities. 
Provision  for  the  troops  under  arms,  or  the 
levying  of  fresh  recruits,  there  was  scarcel} 
any.  The  floating  of  a  loan  which  had  been 
attempted  in  Paris  had  proved  a  failure,  and 
the  Provisional  Government  had  not  been  any 
more  successful  in  the  collection  of  a  forced 
contribution  at  home.  All  idea  of  national 
cohesion  of  action,  or  scheme  of  federation 
with  northern  Italy,  was  lost  sight  of,  and  the 
struggle  drifted  into  the  narrow  limits  of  insu- 
lar independence  ;  which  in  its  turn  became 
more  and  more  subjected  to  mere  local  interests. 
Ferdinand,  pursuing  the  astute  policy  of  dis- 
crediting the  rebels  in  the  eyes  of  European 
sympathies,  continued  to  show  a  disposition  to 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  33 

come  to  terms  in  spite  of  the  Koyalist  advan- 
tages. Lord  Minto,  who  acted  as  intermediary, 
was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  reconcile  the 
conflicting  interests,  and  journeyed  to  and  fro 
between  the  Island  and  Naples  bearing  draft 
after  draft  for  constitutional  reform,  or  con- 
certive  administrative  concessions.  Even  when 
these  appeared  most  liberal,  trustworthy  guar- 
antees were  lacking,  or  spurned  as  unacceptable 
by  a  people  whose  faith  in  royal  promises  had 
been  so  often  and  so  rudely  shaken. 

Thus  negotiations  dragged  on  month  after 
month  until  France  and  England,  having  ex- 
hausted both  patience  and  influence,  stood 
aside.  Hostilities  began  afresh  in  March,  1849, 
and  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Taormina,  and 
the  bloody  sack  of  Catania,  surpassing  by  many 
degrees  the  cruelties  and  horrors  of  Messina. 
Again  the  foreign  admirals  intervened  ;  again 
came  fruitless  negotiations  ;  then  again  a  resort 
to  arms.  The  result  was,  as  foreseen  by  the 
circumstances  following  the  fall  of  Messina, 
and  in  view  of  the  total  lack  of  organization 
on  the  part  of  the  leaders, — political  and  mili- 
tary,— the  capture  of  town  after  town,  and 
the  final  surrender  of  Palermo  on  May  15, 
1849. 

Filangieri,  on  taking  possession  of  the  capital, 
granted  a  general  amnesty,  which,  however, 
3 


d4  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

excluded  some  forty  of  the  principal  political 
and  military  offenders. 

Thus  ended  the  Sicilian  revolution.  The 
unhappy  victims,  however,  soon  found  them- 
selves again  under  their  accustomed  chains, 
which,  despite  all  promises  to  the  contrary,  con- 
tinued to  be  drawn  tighter  and  weighted  more 
heavily,  until  after  a  lapse  of  ten  years  the 
successful  invasion  of  Garibaldi  knocked  the 
fetters  from  their  limbs. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Perdioand  IL  attempts  to  free  himself  from  Parliamentary  re- 
straints.—Disorders  in  Naples.— Flight  of  Pius  IX.  to  Gaeta. 
— Revolution  in  Rome.— Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  seeks 
refuge  at  Gaeta.— Charles  Albert's  offers  of  assistance.— 
Qioberti's  policy  misrepresented  in  Piedmont.— French 
interyention. — Ferdinand  meets  Garibaldi's  forces  at  Pales- 
trina. — Defeat  of  Neapolitans  at  Velletri. — Restoration  of 
the  Pope. — International  relations  of  Kingdom  of  Naples. 
— England  and  France  during  Sicilian  revolution.— Mazzini 
and  "  Young  Italy."— Parliamentary  complications  in 
Naples.— Mr.  Morrison's  letter  to  Daniel  Webster.— Ferdi- 
nand seeks  to  abolish  Franchises. 

Ferdinand  now  found  himself  free  to  enter 
frankly  on  the  policy  of  reaction  he  had  tenta- 
tively inaugurated  in  May  of  the  previous  year. 
He  could  afford  to  snap  his  fingers  at  the  Par- 
liament he  had  rendered  innocuous,  and  which 
he  only  awaited  a  more  favorable  combination 
of  circumstances  to  rid  himself  of  entirely. 
On  receiving  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Messina  the 
King  sent  Ruggiero,  one  of  his  Ministers,  to 
inform  the  Chambers  that  the  session  was  pro- 
rogued until  the  31st  of  November.  A  howling 
mob,  suborned  by  the  reactionists,  accompanied 
Ruggiero  to  the  University  where  the  deputies 
36 


36  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

were  assembled,  shrieking,  •'  Long  live  the 
King;'*  "Death  to  the  Deputies.*'  In  the 
course  of  the  day  other  demonstrations  in  favor 
of  King  and  Constitution  paraded  the  streets 
and  put  to  flight  the  advocates  of  Absolutism. 
The  police  and  troops,  seeing  their  proteges 
in  danger,  now  came  upon  the  scene,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  arrest  the  newcomers.  A  part  of  the 
city  was  placed  under  martial  law  ;  numbers 
were  imprisoned  ;  several  condemned  to  twenty- 
five  years  in  chains.  Thus  was  inaugurated 
the  reactionary  policy,  and  system  of  political 
persecution,  which  by  reason  of  its  excesses 
eventually  compassed  the  destruction  of  the 
Dynasty  it  was  formulated  to  uphold. 

From  the  7th  of  September,  1848,  no  op- 
portunity was  lost  to  weaken  the  National 
Guard.  Under  one  pretext  or  another  regi- 
ment after  regiment  was  disbanded  ;  some- 
times the  reason  advanced  was  failure  to  re- 
press Liberalist  manifestations ;  at  others,  the 
accusation  that  the  organization  prevented  free 
expression  of  public  rejoicing  over  the  return 
to  paternal  government.  On  the  27th  of  July, 
1849,  the  destruction  of  the  national  militia 
was  complete,  and  the  Absolutist  party  was  rid 
of  this  inconvenient  instrument  of  popular 
manifestation. 

Meanwhile  fortune  seemed  to  play  into  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  37 

hands  of  the  Neapolitan  Raler.  On  the  even- 
ing of  November  24,  1848,  Pope  Pius  IX.,  dis- 
guised as  a  common  priest,  fled  from  Rome, 
in  the  carriage  of  the  wife  of  the  Bavarian 
Minister  to  his  Court,  and  crossing  the  Nea- 
politan frontier,  took  refuge  in  Gaeta,  a  sup- 
plicant for  his  royal  hospitality.  The  circum- 
stances which  had  led  up  to  this  desperate  ac- 
tion were  complex.  Voluntary  concessions  to 
the  Liberalism  of  the  day  on  the  part  of  the 
most  rigidly  conservative  Court  in  Christendom 
had  dumfounded  Europe  ;  and  had  caused 
the  Pope  to  be  looked  up  to  and  saluted  as 
the  champion  of  Italian  liberties  and  political 
regeneration.  But  the  incline  on  which  the 
Pontiff  had  thus  rashly  ventured,  prompted 
by  personal  convictions  perhaps,  but  with  a 
total  lack  of  political  foresight  or  genius,  soon 
proved  too  steep  for  him  to  keep  his  footing. 
Swept  from  one  premature  concession  to  an- 
other ;  yielding  when  it  would*  have  been 
wiser  to  refuse,  and  as  weakly  withholding 
what  it  would  have  been  politic  to  grant ;  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  was  overwhelmed  by  the 
flood  too  suddenly  unloosed,  and  which,  no 
channel  having  been  prepared  for  it,  over- 
flowed, submerged  and  devastated  that  which 
it  had  been  intended  to  cultivate  and  fructify. 
Liberty  too  suddenly  achieved,   and  without 


38  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

training  and  careful  preparation,  by  a  people 
unaccustomed  to  political  freedom,  is  as  dan- 
gerous as  a  loaded  weapon  in  the  hands  of  a 
child.  The  Romans,  for  long  centuries  kept 
in  political  serfdom,  considered  Liberty  and 
License  as  synonymous  terms.  When,  with 
the  assassination  of  Count  Rossi,  the  swing  of 
the  pendulum  indicated  reaction,  they  were  in 
no  mood  to  passively  accept  restrictions  placed 
upon  its  abuse,  and  the  flight  of  their  Sov- 
ereign, was  the  signal  for  a  Mazzinian  Utopia. 
Count  Pasolini,  the  original  initiator  of  Pius, 
then  Cardinal  Mastai-Ferretti,  Bishop  of  Imola, 
into  the  mysteries  of  Liberalism ;  and  Marco 
Minghetti,  had  indeed  foreseen  the  danger,  and 
continually  counselled  moderation  and  caution. 
They  had,  however,  merely  succeeded  in  get- 
ting themselves  distrusted  by  both  parties. 

The  news  of  the  Pope's  flight  and  safe  advent 
at  Gaeta  was  carried  to  Ferdinand  by  Count 
Spaur  in  person,  and  transported  the  Neapoli- 
tan Court  with  joy.  "Rejoice,*'  cried  the 
Government  organs,  **the  representative  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  in  the  Kingdom ;  and  Ferdi- 
nand II.,  the  descendant  of  Saint  Louis,  is  the 
host  of  the  most  holy  Father."  And  indeed 
Ferdinand  had  cause  for  rejoicing,  for  the 
utter  failure  of  Liberalism,  as  illustrated  in  so 
strikingly  prominent  an  example,  could  not  fail 


TEE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  39 

to  strengthen  his  own  hand.  Pius  the  Ninth  ; 
the  idol  of  the  progressive  party  ;  the  de- 
clared champion  of  National  Independence  and 
Liberty  ;  the  advocate  of  Constitutionalism 
and  Federation  ;  a  victim  of  the  reforms  he 
had  himself  instituted,  was  now  a  refugee 
within  the  realm  of  the  Sovereign  who,  amongst 
all  Italian  despots,  passed  as  the  most  antag- 
onistic to  the  Liberal  Creed  erstwhile  pro- 
fessed by  the  High-priest  of  Christendom  ! 

A  couple  of  months  later  (January,  1849,) 
Ferdinand  was  still  further  elated  by  the  un- 
ceremonious arrival  at  Gaeta  of  another  royal 
fugitive  in  the  person  of  the  Grand  Duke  Leo- 
pold II.,  of  Tuscany,  likewise  a  victim  of  the 
spread  of  Mazzini's  theories  for  popular  gov- 
ernment. The  old  fortress  and  stronghold  of 
successive  Neapolitan  dynasties  became  for  the 
time  being  the  centre  of  a  brilliant  Court,  and 
the  hotbed  of  reactionary  intrigue.  Hither 
hastened  the  diplomatists  of  the  various  Euro- 
pean Courts  accredited  to  the  Holy  See,  to- 
gether with  the  special  envoys  sent  with  offers 
of  mediation,  or  more  substantial  aid,  for  re- 
placing the  Pope  in  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter. 
Nor  did  these  offers  come  from  the  ultra-con- 
servative rulers  alone.  The  danger  which  must 
result  from  the  ill-considered  Koman  insur- 
rection was  keenly  felt  by  those  who  had  the 


46^  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

true  interests  of  the  national  canse  at  heart. 
In  spite  of  his  conscientious  espousal  of  the 
doctrines  of  Constitutionalism,  or  because  of 
them,  Charles  Albert  of  Savoy  quickly  discerned 
the  peril  engendered  by  the  excesses  committed 
both  in  Rome  and  Florence,  and  recognized 
the  injury  to  the  Nationalist  principles  which 
would  ensue  should  the  Pope  be  successful  in 
his  appeals  to  Spain  and  Austria  to  regain  for 
him  his  Crown.  He  therefore  despatched  his 
envoys  to  Gaeta  to  plead  with  him  that  he  dis- 
pense with  foreign  aid,  and  accept  that  of 
Sardinia.  Ferdinand  was,  however,  too  astute 
to  allow  the  prestige  of  aiding  the  dethroned 
Pontiff  to  regain  possession  of  his  dominions 
to  be  alienated.  He  was  fully  alive  to  the  fact 
that  should  this  end  be  accomplished  by  the 
Moderate  Liberals  who  formed  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  the  national  party,  and  of  whose  policy 
Cavour  was  later  a  notable  exponent,  their 
cause  would  be  immediately  enhanced  in  the 
eyes  of  European  conservatism.  It  was  obvi- 
ously to  his  advantage  to  discredit  them  abroad, 
and  encourage  the  prevalent  misapprehension 
which  confused  the  advocates  of  Constitution- 
alism and  liberal  reforms  with  those  rabid  re- 
publicans inoculated  with  the  virus  of  Maz- 
zini's  irredentist  principles.  Even  at  this  early 
date,  and  in  spite  of  his  recent  military  re- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  41 

verses,  Charles  Albert  had  achieved  a  popu- 
larity throughout  the  Peninsula  which  gave 
umbrage  to  his  fellow-sovereign.  It  was  con- 
sequently with  considerable  satisfaction  that 
Ferdinand  witnessed  the  success  of  Neapolitan 
influence  and  diplomacy  which  secured  for  him 
the  advantage  of  co-operating  with  Austria  and 
Spain. 

The  Neapolitan  official  newspapers  accused 
Charles  Albert  of  insatiable  cupidity,  insinuat- 
ing that  having  failed  to  obtain  either  glory 
or  additional  power  in  his  attempts  to  set  him- 
self up  as  the  champion  of  Italy  against  Aus- 
tria, or  by  encouraging  the  unitarian  conspira- 
cies directed  against  the  Princes  of  the  Penin- 
sula, he  desired  to  try  his  fortune  once  more 
by  appearing  as  the  defender  of  the  Holy  See. 
Gioberti,  the  originator  of  the  proposed  policy, 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  in  thorough  sym- 
pathy with  his  colleagues  in  office,  or  with  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  Piedmontese  and 
Italian  political  world.  The  scope  of  the  pro- 
posed intervention  in  Tuscany  and  at  Rome 
which  he  considered  essential  to  safeguard 
national  independence  threatened  by  foreign 
invasion,  was  wilfully  misconstrued  by  his 
enemies  at  home  and  abroad  ;  and  branded  as 
a  traitor  by  those  he  sought  to  serve,  he  was 
made  to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  zeal.     It  is^  of 


42  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

course,  an  open  question  whether  his  influence 
with  France,  then  under  the  fascination  of  La- 
martine's  eloquence,  would  have  saved  Rome 
the  humiliations  she  was  to  undergo.  But  the 
plan  possessed  at  least  an  undeniable  patriot- 
ism, coupled  with  a  plausible  political  hypothe- 
sis, which  makes  it  difficult  to  clearly  under- 
stand, when  stripped  of  petty  personal  jeal« 
ousies,  the  tremendous  opposition  of  statesmen 
whose  names  eventually  became  synonymous 
with  patriotism  and  energetic  action. 

Pio  Nono  was  disinclined  to  owe  his  restora- 
tion to  the  bayonets  of  the  French  Republic  ; 
while  Ferdinand  was  equally  apprehensive  con- 
cerning the  ideas  which  might  be  imported  by 
those  who  had  so  recently  taken  part  in  the 
Revolution  of  February.  Initiative  was,  how- 
ever, taken  from  him  by  the  appearance  of 
General  Oudinot  under  the  walls  of  Rome  ; 
and  no  alternative  offered  but  for  Naples  to  co- 
operate against  Garibaldi  who  was  in  command 
of  the  Roman  forces,  with  all  possible  haste. 
This  Ferdinand  proceeded  to  do,  marching  to 
the  frontier  of  the  Papal  States  with  an  army 
ten  thousand  strong.  At  Palestrina,  Garibaldi, 
himself  at  the  head  of  about  four  thousand 
men,  met  the  Neapolitans,  and  although  both 
parties  claimed  the  victory  the  Bourbon  forces 
found  it  advisable  to  fall  back  upon  Velletri. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  43 

A  few  days  later  (May  16,  1849),  Garibaldi 
having  been  considerably  reinforced,  attacked 
the  King  at  Velletri  and  inflicted  a  signal  and 
final  defeat  upon  his  arms. 

From  a  military  point  of  view  the  Neapoli- 
tan expedition  had  been  a  failure ;  but  its 
political  and  diplomatic  advantages  were  mani- 
fest. By  his  action  Ferdinand  had  allayed 
the  rancor  and  suspicions  of  Austria,  which 
his  armed  demonstration  on  the  Po  had  given 
rise  to,  and  at  the  same  time  convinced  the 
conservative  Princes  that  his  apparent  sym- 
pathy with  the  Italian  movement  in  Northern 
Italy  had  been  wrung  from  him  by  force  of  cir- 
cumstances, and  was  not  in  accord  with  per- 
sonal convictions.  Austria  signified  the  de- 
sired approval  ;  styling  him  the  ' '  Initiator  of 
the  restoration  of  order  in  Europe."  The 
Pope,  who  might  now  be  relied  upon  to  aban- 
don the  anomalous  position  he  had  assumed  with 
the  Tiara,  became  his  debtor  and  his  ally. 
There  remained  France  and  England.  Of  the 
former  he  was  also  in  a  sense  the  ally,  since  the 
nominal  object  of  the  presence  of  the  two 
armies  on  Roman  territory  had  been  the  same, 
namely, — to  replace  Pio  Nono  on  his  throne. 
Yet  Ferdinand  could  not  forget  that  the  com- 
ing man  in  France,  Louis  Napoleon,  had  fought 
for  the  Italian  cause  in  1831,  and  had  bound 


4i  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

himself  by  solemn  oath  to  assist  its  furtherance. 
He  could  hardly  expect  the  new  French  Ee- 
public,  whose  birth  was  founded  on  revolution- 
ary principles,  to  openly  acquiesce  in  his  medi- 
tated return  to  Absolutism.  In  regard  to 
England  his  anxiety  was  less,  for  he  thoroughly 
understood  the  sentimentalism  underlying  an 
only  apparently  vigorous  policy  of  intervention 
in  his  affairs.  And  here  we  find  the  key  to  his 
otherwise  inexplicable  clemency  and  toleration 
in  Sicily — a  policy  almost  Machiavelian  in  its 
astute  proficiency.  England  and  France  both 
became  his  dupes  for  the  time  being  ;  and  in  a 
sense,  almost  his  accomplices,  since  their 
squadrons  passively  followed  his  operations, 
their  commanders  acting  somewhat  in  the  rela- 
tion of  seconds  in  a  prize  fight,  and  calling 
time  when  the  Sicilians  were  too  roughly 
handled.  His  line  of  diplomacy  was  fixed. 
None  could  question  his  right  to  lead  his  legit- 
imate but  revolted  subjects  to  an  appreciation 
of  their  error.  At  the  same  time,  that  there 
was  serious  cause  for  the  revolt  few  would  deny; 
while  the  fact  that  the  tendencies  of  the  age 
demanded  reform,  and  radical  reform,  was  dis- 
tressingly evinced  on  all  sides.  Concessions 
must  be  made,  but  he  determined  they  should 
be  concessions  of  such  a  character  that,  while 
satisfactory  to  the  self-constituted  protectors  of 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  45 

Sicilian  interests,  when  their  moment  of  use- 
fulness had  passed,  the  empty  shell  might  be 
cast  away,  none  but  the  victims  being  the  wiser 
that  the  kernel  had  never  existed. 

In  this  Ferdinand  was  successful,  and  when 
the  British  Government  reminded  him  of  the 
pledges  given  and  the  rights  of  his  Sicilian  sub- 
jects, his  Minister  replied,  under  date  of  Sep- 
tember 20,  1849  :  '*  Sicily  enjoys  perfect  tran- 
quillity, and  the  inhabitants  are  happy  to  have 
returned  to  the  protection  of  their  legitimate 
Sovereign." 

Althongh  open  resistance  to  the  government 
had  been  trampled  down,  the  effervescence  by 
no  means  subsided  ;  and  both  in  Sicily  and  on 
the  mainland  we  find  the  agents  of  Mazzini 
particularly  active  in  keeping  it  alive.  In  spite 
of  the  visionary  and  often  crudely  impracticable 
nature  of  the  great  agitator's  schemes,  to  his 
soul-inspiring  enthusiasm  is  due  much  that  was 
afterwards  accomplished  by  cooler  heads.  His 
society  of  ''  Young  Italy  "  appealed  directly  to 
the  hearts  of  the  generous  youth  of  the  country, 
and  aroused  in  them  fervent  patriotism,  intense 
hatred  of  their  foreign  rulers,  together  with  an 
irrepressible  yearning  for  glory  and  martyrdom. 
Neither  Mazzini  nor  Garibaldi  possessed  any 
genius  for,  or  sympathy  with,  the  cold,  calcu- 
lating science  of  Diplomacy  ;  the  skill  and  pa- 


46  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

tieuce  of  the  manipulator  of  political  oppor- 
tunities ;  the  prudence  of  the  statesman  who 
looks  beyond  the  immediate  result,  and  care- 
fully weighs  and  calculates  the  ultimate  conse- 
quences of  the  action,  were  to  them  incompre- 
hensible, when  not  absolutely  contemptible. 
Both  frequently  imperilled  the  cause  they  de- 
voted their  lives  to  by  this  utter  contempt  of 
international  complications.  Both  possessed 
unparalleled  magnetic  influence  over  the  ma- 
jority of  those  who  came  within  their  orbit  ; 
both  labored  for  the  doctrines  they  professed 
with  purely  disinterested  motives,  and  total 
abnegation  of  self.  Of  Garibaldi's  tangible 
achievements,  the  record  is  writ  large,  yet  there 
can  be  no  doubt  but  that  to  the  dogged  perse- 
verance despite  every  form  of  persecution,  to 
the  consummate  skill  in  conspiracy  and  in- 
trigue, as  well  as  to  the  miraculously  inciting, 
though  often  bombastic,  eloquence  of  Mazzini, 
Italy  owes  as  much. 

Meanwhile  in  Naples,  Parliament,  after  having 
been  prorogued  a  second  time,  was  finally  allow- 
ed to  meet  on  February  first  (1849).  As  the 
deputies  entered  the  hall  they  were  greeted 
with  applause  and  cries  of  encouragement,  for 
the  people  knew  the  occasion  to  be  one  in 
which  their  rights  were  in  grave  peril.  From 
the  outset  the  representatives  found  themselves 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  47 

in  open  conflict  with  the  Government,  and  on 
the  horns  of  a  dilemma.  During  the  enforced 
recess  the  Government  had  taken  npon  itself  to 
collect  taxes  unauthorized  by  Parliament ;  thus 
violating  a  constitutional  prerogative  of  that 
body.  The  Chambers  consequently  found  them- 
selves in  the  unfortunate  position  of  either  pass- 
ing over  in  silence  a  proceeding  fundamentally 
illegal,  or  of  placing  themselves  in  overt  opposi- 
tion to  the  Crown,  and  thereby  running  the 
risk  of  dissolution.  To  the  surprise  and  anxi- 
ety of  all  when  the  session  opened  the  Minis- 
ters made  no  reference  to  the  matter,  neither 
attempting  to  justify  their  illegal  action  nor  to 
obtain  authorization  for  its  continuance.  Evi- 
dently a  trap  had  been  laid,  and  a  situation 
created  expressly  to  embarrass  the  Assembly, 
and  force  an  issue.  In  order  to  escape  with 
a  semblance  of  dignity  from  an  intolerable 
position,  it  was  decided  to  introduce  a  bill 
providing  the  Government  with  the  temporary 
power  of  imposing  taxes  in  order  that  the 
public  service  be  not  embarrassed  ;  and  simul- 
taneously present  an  address  to  the  King 
praying  for  the  dismissal  of  those  Ministers 
whose  actions,  directed  against  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Constitution,  rendered  them 
unworthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  Crown,  and 
whose  continuance  in  office  fomented  discord 


48  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

and  dissensions  between  the  djnnasty  ana  tne 
country.  This  proposition  gave  rise  to  pro- 
longed discussion.  Many  were  against  the 
presentation  of  such  an  address,  appreciating 
the  friction  which  must  result.  On  the  other 
hand  it  was  urged  that  the  Chambers,  by  tacitly 
accepting  measures  so  contrary  to  the  Consti- 
tution, stultified  themselves,  and  became  the 
accomplices  of  those  whose  aim  it  was  to  annul 
constitutional  franchises.  Considerable  per- 
sonal courage  was  displayed  by  those  taking 
prominent  part  in  the  debate,  for  none  were 
ignorant  of  the  risks  they  ran.  On  March 
third  the  address  was  finally  voted,  accompanied 
by  the  declaration  that  the  Ministry  no  longer 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Country. 

Ferdinand,  however,  relying  upon  the  re- 
actionary current,  which  had  already  set  in 
throughout  Europe,  simply  refused  to  receive 
the  Commission  nominated  to  present  the 
address.  Ten  days  later,  having  in  the  mean- 
time allowed  his  dupes  the  empty  satisfaction 
of  passing  laws  to  which  he  never  gave  official 
sanction,  '^  Bomba  "  put  an  end  to  the  "  Consti- 
tutional Comedy  '*  by  dissolving  Parliament. 

With  the  subjugation  of  Sicily,  the  fall  of 
the  Eoman  Eepablic,  and  the  victory  of  Austria 
at  ISTovara,  followed  by  the  restoration  of  the 
Pope  and  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  to  their 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  49 

respective  Thrones,  the  return  of  the  good  old 
days  of  paternal  government,  maintained  by 
militarism  and  assisted  by  a  police  system 
nbiquitous  and  snprerae,  seemed  assured.  Yet 
Ferdinand  had  been  badly  frightened,  and  was 
besides  too  close  and  intelligent  an  observer  of 
the  psychology  of  a  movement  so  universal  and 
deep-rooted  to  be  wholly  at  ease.  To  one  so 
thoroughly  versed  in  the  subtleties  of  dissimula- 
tion the  supposition  that  all  danger  had  disap- 
peared was  absurd.  Although  Vesuvius  might 
not  be  in  active  eruption  it  would  be  folly  to 
suppose  the  hidden  flames  would  not  on  occa- 
sion burst  forth  afresh.  Of  Italy  he  could  be 
reasonably  certain — that  is  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Piedmont,  whose  young  Sovereign, 
Victor  Emmanuel,  was  as  yet  untried  ;  but 
France,  who  had  become  in  a  sense  his  imme- 
diate neighbor,  her  troops  being  quartered  in 
Eome,  was  an  unknown  quantity.  Russia  was 
his  friend,  and  had  given  him  moral  support  in 
the  late  Sicilian  crisis,  and  Russia  looked  with 
not  unnatural  aversion  on  the  growing  power  of 
the  Bonaparte  at  the  head  of  the  French  Gov- 
ernment. 

Home  affairs,  however,  claimed  his  diplomacy 

quite  as  urgently  as  his  interests  abroad.     It 

was  obviously  imperative  to  purge  the  Kingdom 

of   the  germs  of  Liberalism  and  disaffection. 

4 


50  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

This  he  promptly  set  about  doing  in  the 
manner  most  congenial  to  his  nature  ;  namely, 
executions,  imprisonments  and  banishments. 
The  Sicilians,  protected  to  some  extent  by 
amnesties  and  guarantees,  suffered  relatively 
less  than  their  unfortunate  fellow-citizens  of  the 
mainland  ;  but  on  Naples  the  King  vented  his 
displeasure  unchecked. 

Mr.  Morrison,  United  States  Charge  d' Af- 
faires at  the  Neapolitan  Court,  writing  to  Daniel 
Webster  under  date  of  April  19,  1851,  says  :  .  .  . 
"  It  is  apprehended  that  the  peace  of  the 
Kingdom  may  be  disturbed  by  the  congregation 
of  revolutionary  chiefs  at  the  London  Exposi- 
tion of  Universal  Industry.  Possessed  of  such 
an  opinion  the  government  has  refused  to  grant 
passports  to  native  artisans  proposing  to  ex- 
hibit their  specimens  of  Neapolitan  manufac- 
tures. The  policy  of  the  present  Cabinet,  I 
fear  will,  sooner  or  later,  produce  another  in- 
surrection. No  reforms  of  any  description  are 
being  made,  while  a  system  of  military  terror 
everywhere  prevails.  The  islands  around  the 
Bay  of  Naples,  as  well  as  the  prisons  and  galley- 
hulks,  are  filled  with  unhappy  beings  legally 
condemned,  or  held  on  suspicion,  for  participa- 
tion in  the  revolution  of  1848.  The  expected 
amnesty  at  New  Year's  was  not  granted,  and 
hundreds  of  men  of  refined,  intellectual  tastes, 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  51 

and  lately  high  in  position,  are  laboring  in  the 
galleys  side  by  side  with  the  most  infamous  and 
abandoned  criminals.  The  most  earnest  ap- 
peals and  representations  on  the  part  of  the 
representatives  of  friendly  foreign  powers  have 
thus  far  been  ineffective  to  induce  the  King 
and  his  Ministers  to  change  their  policy.  The 
consequence  is  that,  with  the  first  opportunity, 
there  will  be  a  general  rising  throughout  the 
Kingdom,  particularly  in  Sicily,  the  inhabitants 
of  which  are  entirely  estranged  from  the  reign- 
ing family." 

The  ** general  rising"  anticipated  by  Mr. 
Morrison  did  not  take  place  for  many  years  ; 
yet,  in  spite  of  the  fearful  expiation  of  the  recent 
attempts,  the  sullen  discontent  and  wretched- 
ness continued  to  be  evinced  by  sporadic  demon- 
strations in  Naples  and  Calabria  at  not  infre- 
quent intervals. 

As  we  have  seen,  Parliament  had  been  dis- 
solved, the  halls  where  the  rare  sessions  had 
been  held  being  actually  dismantled.  The  oflB- 
cial  journal  had  modified  its  title,  and  got  rid 
of  the  *'  constitutional "  prefix  ;  but  the  crafty 
King  had  not  deemed  it  prudent  to  openly  re- 
voke the  obnoxious  Chart,  fearing  that  by  so 
doing  he  might  lend  a  color  of  illegality  to  his 
government.  He  was  nevertheless  firmly  de- 
termined that  all  should  be  in  readiness  for  its 


52  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

disavowal  when  the  opportune  moment  arrived. 
This  he  proposed  to  hasten  by  means  of  popu- 
lar petitions — a  method  equally  ingenious  and 
original,  and  which  could  be  relied  upon  not  to 
lead  to  complications  with  foreign  States.  Al- 
ready, in  August,  1849,  emissaries  had  been 
despatched  throughout  the  various  provinces 
with  instructions  to  sound  those  in  authority, 
and  to  suborn  communes  and  municipalities 
with  promises  of  grants  for  public  works,  rail- 
way concessions,  remission  of  local  taxes,  or 
simply  the  bestowal  of  honors,  or  pecuniary 
remuneration ;  thus  gradually  and  stealthily 
paving  the  way  for  the  withdrawal,  or  consign- 
ment to  oblivion,  of  the  last  vestige  of  public 
liberties. 


^ 


Ferdtmand  Jl.  ii 


"and  il 


Marii  le.'^fsa 


5*2 


Tiiv:  rai  LAP  ME  or 


dis«v  >*».>  arrived. 

'rt;,«  5><.  ,   .  ,,f  popn- 

■UH  and 
i  not  to 
-*      Al- 
.  •.  ,  V,    til    An  , .  —on 

..u  ■.-.ituhtHl    ;i-     •  ,  ,   .    .;iceB 

.  ;h  in8trGf^  HUihoritv, 

aud  to  r^  palities 

yrnh  prr  l-  :.  ^  jks,  rail- 

way coiJv  remiseioii   vf  local  taxes,  or 

•■al   of   hnnoi'B,  or  pecuniary 
fius  f?ra<iaally  and  stealthily 
p«Trngih«  way  for  thft  withdrawn!,  or  consiirn- 
.hhrion,  of  the  last  T*«iige  of  pul  "i»c 


.\\    VlWBw'Ai-W^ 


MA-nT  VwsJA 


.11  Vs«6wVb-«'^ 


CHAPTER  III. 

Factors  which  undermined  Neapolitan  Throne.— Idea  of  Na- 
tional Unity.— Characteristics  of  lower  classes.— Education- 
al opportunities.— University  of  Naples.— Colleges  of  the  Jes- 
uits.—Their  sphere  of  influence.— Measures  to  check  spread 
of  Liberal  theories. — Newspapers  and  the  Press. — The  Aris- 
tocracy and  its  relation  to  Public  Affairs.— Diplomatic  serv- 
ice.— The  Army  and  Navy,  and  their  relations  with  the 
Crown.— The  Swiss  Guard.— Politics  in  the  Army.— Arsenals 
and  Shipyards.— Taxation.— Police  system.— International 
influences.— Recall  of  English  and  French  diplomatists. — 
Napoleon  III.  and  Prince  Murat.— Decline  of  Neapolitan 
Diplomacy. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  political 
institutions  and  aspirations  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Naples,  but  it  would  be  manifestly  unfair  to 
confine  the  investigations  to  this  field  alone,  or 
to  attribute  the  causes  for  the  collapse  entirely 
to  the  influence  of  the  revolutions  of  1848  and 
1849.  Although  the  great  revolutionary  period 
finished  with  the  latter  year,  the  following  dec- 
ade was  fraught  with  issues  at  home  and 
abroad,  which,  while  less  important  individ- 
ually and  separately,  formed  in  the  aggregate 
the  determining  weight  in  the  oscillating  scales, 
and  swayed  the  Dynasty  to  its  ruin. 
53 


54  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Yet  notwithstanding  the  undeniable  influ- 
ence of  these  factors,  the  destruction  of  the 
Throne  of  the  Two  Sicilies  was  the  result  of  an 
Idea  :  nay  !  more,  the  advent  of  a  Man  whose 
personality  gave  substance  to  a  Theory  cen- 
turies old — a  combination  fraught  with  such 
colossal  potentialities  that  even  had  that  King- 
dom enjoyed  a  less  unsatisfactory  government, 
it  must  inevitably  have  succumbed.  The  Idea 
was  Italian  Unity  :  the  Man,  Victor  Emmanuel 
II.,  **the  Honest  King."  Slow  of  growth; 
often  crushed  out  of  sight,  or  overlooked  in 
combinations  calculated  to  defeat  its  accom- 
plishment ;  plotted  against,  misrepresented, 
and  maligned  ;  it  nevertheless  constituted  the 
fundamental  principle  on  which  all  political 
creeds,  all  national  aspirations  and  ambitions, 
were  based. 

Although  this  is  essentially  true,  yet  is  it 
equally  a  fact  that  the  subjects  of  King  Ferdi- 
nand, and  later  of  his  son,  Francis  II.,  were, 
as  a  whole,  not  dominated  by  this  desire  for 
national  unity.  To  use  a  paradoxical,  but  ex- 
pressive, phrase,  the  upheavals  came  from 
above,  not  below.  That  is  to  say,  they  were 
fomented  and  carried  out  by  the  upper  and 
educated  classes  ;  government  oflBcials,  literary 
and  professional  men ;  not  to  mention  a  royal 
Prince  or  two.     The  mass  of  the  population 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  55 

stood  aloof,  apathetically  interested  but  not 
sufficiently  educated  to  be  actively  concerned 
with  questions  outside  their  daily  routine.  To 
them  it  was  all  an  affair  of  taxation  :  should 
unity  mean  a  lightening  of  their  burdens,  they 
were  unionists ;  if  not,  "  Bomba "  was  good 
enough  for  them.  This  was  perhaps  not  equally 
true  of  Sicily,  where  a  peculiar  system  of  land 
tenure,  combined  with  other  local  idiosyncra- 
sies, had  familiarized  all  classes  with  insurrec- 
tion ;  and  where,  although  the  peasant  was  cer- 
tainly no  less  ignorant,  he  was  nevertheless 
more  alert  to  grasp  any  chance  of  bettering  his 
material  position,  and  quick  to  note  the  value 
of  the  political  enfranchisement  which  would 
enhance  his  importance  as  a  factor  in  local 
interests.  Beyond  these,  however,  his  concern 
was  as  apathetic  as  that  of  his  brother  across 
the  water.  He  might  belong  to  a  secret  society 
— as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  rarely  did — but  if  so, 
its  political  creed  was  generally  so  vague  and 
confused,  or  so  transcendental,  as  to  be  totally 
beyond  his  ken  ;  although  this  did  not  render 
him  a  less  dangerous  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  his  leaders,  or  less  docile  if  called  upon  to 
fight.  But  on  such  as  these  the  doctrines  of 
Mazzini  had  little  hold.  They  could,  in  fact, 
only  be  reached  and  influenced  by  their  imme- 
diate superiors,  and  were  not  generally  avail- 


56  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

able  for  purposes  of  purely  political  revolt.  In 
a  study  of  the  social  and  political  regeneration 
of  Southern  Italy  the  peasant  class  constitutes 
an  unimportant  factor.  He  fought  when  made 
to  fight,  or  defended  himself  when  cruelly 
attacked  ;  but  the  ethics  of  the  cause  he  served, 
or  combated,  were  nothing  to  him,  and  victory 
or  defeat  left  him  where  they  found  him. 
Italy  can  point  to  no  Andreas  Hofer  in  her 
struggle  for  independence.  Home  produced  a 
Ciceruacchio,  it  is  true,  but  he  was  no  peasant, 
but  a  wine-carrier  of  the  Trastevere. 

Although  the  lower  classes  were  left  in  a 
state  of  almost  complete  ignorance,  it  being 
the  exception  for  a  peasant  to  be  able  to  sign 
his  name,  the  educational  opportunities  were, 
for  the  times,  of  no  mean  order,  and  in  many 
respects  superior  to  those  offered  in  other  parts 
of  Italy.  The  University  of  Naples  enjoyed 
a  wide-spread  reputation  in  the  middle  of  the 
century,  and  although  the  curriculum  appears 
meagre  in  our  days,  it  was  on  a  par  with,  if 
not  ahead  of,  many  similar  institutions  in  the 
Peninsula.  It  supported  six  Chairs,  or  Facul- 
ties :  Theology,  Mathematics,  Natural  Sciences, 
Jurisprudence,  Literature,  and  Medicine.  It 
is  characteristic  of  the  detestation  entertained 
by  Ferdinand  of  the  vulgarization  of  the 
Science   of  Government  that  after  1849,  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  bl 

University  Chair  of  Political  Economy  was  offi- 
cially styled  ''Public  Economy." 

Good  as  it  was,  the  University  of  Naples  was 
alone  of  its  class  in  the  King's  dominions  north 
of  Sicily.  For  this  reason,  as  well  as  owing  to 
the  great  difficulties  of  communication  between 
the  capital  and  the  provinces,  was  due  the  rela- 
tively restricted  number  of  students  who  at- 
tended its  lectures.  This  number  was  further 
diminished  by  the  vexations  of  a  meddlesome 
police,  constantly  interfering,  and  not  infre- 
quently disbanding  the  classes  on  account  of 
some  imaginary  political  conspiracy.  The 
authorities  looked  with  unconcealed  aversion 
upon  any  considerable  congregation  of  students, 
fearing  the  dissemination  of  liberal  ideas,  or 
even  an  interchange  of  local  subjects  for  dis- 
content. For  this  reason  a  Sicilian  was  denied 
access  to  the  University  of  Naples.  Even  in 
that  island  a  choice  of  the  three  Universities 
was  not  permitted.  Natives  of  the  provinces 
of  Palermo,  Trapani  and  Girgenti  must  pursue 
their  studies  in  the  University  of  Palermo. 
Those  of  the  provinces  of  Catania,  Caltanissetta 
and  Noto,  at  Catania  ;  while  the  youth  of  Mes- 
sina were  obliged  to  frequent  the  institution 
maintained  in  the  capital  of  that  province. 

Although  Naples  alone  of  the  cities  on  the 
mainland  possessed  a  University,  several  of  the 


68  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

royal  colleges,  invariably  under  the  control  of 
the  Jesuits,  supported  chairs  of  Law,  Civil, 
Penal  and  Koman ;  of  Anatomy  and  Phys- 
iology ;  of  Theoretical  and  Practical  Surgery  ; 
of  Chemistry  and  Natural  History ;  and,  in  one 
or  two  instances,  of  Mineralogy  and  Geology. 
The  Jesuits  themselves  undertook  the  instruc- 
tion of  Literature,  Philosophy,  and  Physical 
and  Mathematical  Sciences  :  the  professors  of 
other  branches  being  usually  laymen.  The 
colleges  of  Salerno,  Bari,  Catanzaro  and  Aquila, 
provided  more  or  less  complete  courses.  These 
institutions  also  issued  diplomas  in  Law,  Medi- 
cine, Mathematics  and  Physics,  thus  making  it 
possible  for  the  less  ambitious  student  to  dis- 
pense with  the  honors  conferred  by  the  Univer- 
sity at  Naples. 

The  Koyal  College  of  Theology  enjoyed 
special  privileges,  and  claimed  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  as  Honorary  Rector.  This  establish- 
ment was  naturally  under  the  direct  supervision 
and  control  of  the  Clergy,  and  was  devoted  to 
ecclesiastical  and  classical  studies.  There  ex- 
isted also  a  number  of  more  or  less  private  in- 
stitutions, generally  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits, 
and  frequented  by  the  sons  of  the  lesser  nobility, 
and  professional  classes. 

The  Council  of  Public  Instruction  was,  dur- 
ing the  last  decade  of  Ferdinand's  reign,  under 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  59 

the  presidency  of  Don  Emilio  Oapomazzo,  a 
man  of  vast  culture  whose  Voltairian  sym- 
pathies and  open  detestation  of  the  Jesuits, 
were  in  noted  contrast  with  the  majority  of  his 
colleagues.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that 
Ferdinand  himself  had  no  leaning  towards  the 
followers  of  Loyola,  fearing  and  mistrusting 
their  special  aptitude  for  political  intrigue. 
Nevertheless  the  Order  had  strong  advocates 
at  Court,  headed  by  the  Queen.  All  works  in- 
tended for  the  press  must  pass  the  censorship 
of  this  Council  not  once  but  twice ;  for  al- 
though permission  might  be  granted  to  print, 
a  second  scrutiny  was  necessary,  before  publi- 
cation, in  order  that  the  members  might  be  as- 
sured that  there  existed  no  surreptitious  inex- 
actitude between  the  original  manuscript  and 
the  printed  pages.  The  staff  of  officials  charged 
with  this  supervision,  as  well  as  that  of  books 
imported  from  abroad,  was  composed,  with  but 
three  exceptions,  of  ecclesiastics. 

Yet  guarded,  supervised,  and  purged  of  all 
dangerous  seditious  taint,  as  were  the  publica- 
tions provided  for  the  subjects  of  the  Nea- 
politan King,  the  seeds  of  revolt  were  wafted 
over  the  frontiers,  and  found  congenial  soil  in 
university,  college,  and  school.  By  no  such 
puerile  constraint,  irksome  and  irritating  to  a 
degree,  could  it  be  hoped  to  erect  a  barrier 


60  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

betvreen  the  Kingdom  and  the  thought  of  the 
outer  world  ;  or  to  quash  legitimate  aspirations 
for  the  political  rights  of  which  the  nation  had 
been  defrauded.  The  exiles  and  conspirators 
beyond  the  frontiers  were  able,  despite  all  pre- 
cautions, to  keep  in  touch  with  the  revolution- 
ary element  at  home,  and  by  means  of  clandes- 
tine presses,  or  manuscripts  circulating  from 
hand  to  hand,  keep  alive  the  fires  which  burned 
sullenly  beneath  an  apparently  tranquil  surface. 
The  chronicles  of  those  years  (1849-1859)  teem 
with  the  condemnations  and  martyrdom  suf- 
fered by  the  would-be  patriots  caught  red- 
handed,  or  ferreted  out  by  the  ubiquitous 
police.  The  possession  of  an  illicit  printing 
press  meant  long  years  in  the  galley-hulks  or 
prisons,  or  death, — the  latter  by  far  the  least 
appalling  form  of  punishment. 

Newspapers  were  published  in  the  capital  and 
some  of  the  larger  towns,  but  journalism,  in  the 
modern  sense,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  ex- 
isted. All  foreign  news  items,  or  happenings 
within  the  realm,  of  a  political  significance  ad- 
verse to  the  government,  when  not  suppressed, 
were  so  misrepresented  or  manipulated  to  har- 
monize with  the  royal  policy,  as  to  lose  all  value 
or  interest.  The  editors  had  to  content  them- 
selves and  their  readers  with  purely  literary 
articles :  criticisms  of  the  plays  performed  at 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  61 

the  various  theatres,  or  opera ;  poetry  and 
charades,  by  means  of  which  latter  bits  of 
political  information  were  not  infrequently  con- 
veyed to  the  initiated.  The  literary  articles 
were  often  of  a  remarkably  high  standard  of 
excellence,  and  served  as  illustrations  of  grace- 
ful writing  ;  but  naturally  under  these  circum- 
stances the  Press  had  no  weight  with  public 
opinion,  and  furnished  no  indication  of  the 
political  pulse  of  the  nation.  The  Neapolitan 
of  those  years  took  up  his  paper  in  search  of  a 
competent  verdict  on  last  night's  play,  or  an 
exhaustive  analysis  of  the  latest  fashionable 
romance.  Or  he  eagerly  scanned  the  list  of 
apartments  to  let ;  or  yet  again,  if  socially  in- 
clined, glanced  at  the  names  of  foreigners  of 
distinction  who  had  recently  arrived.  Should 
he  chance  to  be  one  of  those  to  whom  the  trend 
of  public  affairs  abroad,  or  information  afford- 
ing some  clue  to  the  political  regeneration  of 
his  beloved  Italy,  was  of  interest,  he  had  re- 
course to  the  dangerous  expedients  already 
mentioned. 

Although  several  members  of  the  aristocracy, 
and,  as  has  been  hinted,  even  connections  of 
the  royal  family,  were  actively  concerned  in 
revolutionary  intrigues,  and  in  sympathy  with 
the  Italian  movement,  they  as  a  class  took  little 
interest  in  politics,  and  an  insignificant  part  in 


62  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

the  administration  of  the  government.  Even 
the  diplomatic  posts  were,  with  one  or  two 
exceptions,  filled  by  men  not  of  noble  birth. 
This  can  be  partly  accounted  for  by  inferiority 
of  education,  owing  to  the  system  which  con- 
fided the  sons  of  the  aristocracy  to  the  Jesuits, 
and  ignored  the  higher  branches,  but  is  also  to 
be  attributed  to  indolence  and  love  of  pleasure. 

Paris,  and  after  the  accession  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  II.,  Turin,  were  the  most  impor- 
tant diplomatic  posts ;  but  as  Ferdinand  allowed 
his  representatives  no  initiative,  their  mission 
was  merely  one  of  observation.  The  King  of 
Naples  was  his  own  Foreign  Minister,  as  he 
was  his  own  Inspector  of  Police.  The  entire 
mechanism  of  government,  down  to  minute  de- 
tails of  administration,  centred  in  his  hands. 
Even  his  military  commanders  took  no  action 
except  under  explicit  orders  ;  while  the  police 
made  their  reports  directly  to  the  Royal  Chan- 
cery. With  his  genius  for  diplomacy,  his  un- 
deniable intelligence,  as  well  as  his  marvel- 
lous capability  for  work,  the  King  cast  in  the 
shade  all  those  surrounding  him,  and  dwarfed 
even  their  most  ambitious  efforts. 

As  was  to  be  expected  Ferdinand's  interest 
was  centred  in  the  army  :  a  broken  reed,  alas  ! 
which  served  the  dynasty  ill.  Before  1848  the 
Neapolitan  troops  numbered  sixty  thousand. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  63 

on  paper  ;  but  in  reality  mustered  scarcely 
forty  thousand  fighting  men.  After  the  events 
of  that  and  the  following  year  the  army  was 
gradually  increased  to  one  hundred  thousand. 
Of  the  revenues  of  the  State  which  did  not 
reach  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  eighteen  millions 
were  spent  on  this  supposed  bulwark  of  the 
Throne.  In  this  profession  also  the  aristocracy 
were  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  The  tradi- 
tion which  surrounded  the  king  with  the  flower 
of  the  youth  of  the  highest  nobility  had  van- 
ished, their  places  being  filled  by  the  sons  of 
the  provincial  gentry,  government  officials,  or 
military  families.  Many  of  the  chiefs  were  old 
warriors  of  the  days  of  Murat ;  "  Men  without 
political  creed,  who  served  the  Bourbons  whom 
in  secret  they  "despised  ;  men  who  in  private 
were  the  friends  of  liberty,  in  public  the  brutal 
instruments  of  servitude."  Notable  excep- 
tions to  these  were  found  in  Filangieri,  Ischi- 
tella,  and  Castelcicala  :  men  of  high  moral 
principles  and  noble  antecedents. 

In  spite  of  the  sarcastic  words  of  his  grand- 
father, who,  coming  upon  Ferdinand,  still  a 
youth,  occupied  in  selecting  designs  for  new 
nniforms,  savagely  muttered  :  "  Dress  them 
as  you  will,  they  will  always  run  away,"  the 
latter,  who,  while  without  any  pronounced  tal- 
ent, yet  possessed  considerable  military  knowl- 


64  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

edge,  continued  to  identify  himself  personally 
with  his  army.  He  invariably  appeared  in 
uniform,  in  private  as  well  as  on  public  occa- 
sions ;  assisted  at  all  reviews  or  annual  camps, 
and  frequently  inspected  the  barracks  and  mili- 
tary establishments.  With  the  men  he  enter- 
tained cordial  relations,  conversing  with  them  in 
dialect  and  addressing  numbers  of  them  by  name. 
In  spite  of  this  condescension  and  ingenuous 
affability  his  presence  inspired  a  cringing  fear. 
Discipline,  although  extremely  strict,  almost 
cruel,  in  non-essentials,  was  of  such  a  nature  as 
to  increase  the  dread  of  the  soldier  for  the  results 
of  transgression,  rather  than  instill  a  spirit  of 
reasoning  obedience  to  his  superiors.  Flogging 
was  of  frequent  occurrence  ;  often  inflicted  for 
insignificant  breaches  of  military  etiquette,  and 
was  moreover  carried  out  with  most  brutal  and 
degrading  accessories.  The  prevalence  of  the 
'*  Camorra"  was  the  curse  of  the  army  ;  even 
the  most  terrible  forms  of  punishment  never 
succeeding  in  eradicating  this  national  scourge. 
As  has  been  said  the  superior  officers  were  al- 
most without  exception  men  far  past  the  prime 
of  life,  but  the  military  college  of  the  Nunzia- 
tella  turned  out  well-educated  and  efficient 
men  who  filled  the  lower  grades.  Amongst 
the  latter  there  existed  a  decided  esprit  de 
corps,   unfortunately   totally   absent   in   their 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  65 

superiors,  who  were  for  the  most  part  men 
without  convictions  and  of  purely  expedient 
loyalty  to  the  dynasty  they  served.  Several  of 
these  had  served  King  Mnrat,  and  are  said  to 
have  looked  back  with  thinly  concealed  regret 
to  that  regime.  The  younger  men,  however, 
conscious  of  the  deficiencies  of  their  service  and 
fully  alive  to  the  dangers  arising  from  the  low 
moral  standard  they  deplored,  made  earnest 
though  ineffectual  attempts  at  reform.  But  re- 
form of  any  description,  even  when  it  so  nearly 
touched  the  interests  of  his  own  salvation,  was 
insuperably  repugnant  to  Ferdinand  ;  and  the 
advice  and  admonitions  of  the  more  far-seeing 
of  his  officers  were  allowed  to  pass  unheeded. 
All  material  of  war,  including  guns,  cannon, 
and  powder,  was  manufactured  in  the  King- 
dom ;  the  home  industries  also  providing  every- 
thing necessary  for  the  clothing  and  mainte- 
nance of  the  soldier.  Poor  and  ill-cared  for  the 
latter  undoubtedly  was,  but  not  exceptionally  or 
conspicuously  so  for  the  times  in  which  he  lived. 
If  we  judge  the  Neapolitan  soldier  by  his 
conduct  in  Sicily,  and  his  precipitate  retreat 
at  Velletri,  we  should  be  apt  to  stigmatize  him 
as  pusillanimous.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
however,  that  on  these  occasions  enthusiasm 
for  the  cause  for  which  he  was  made  to  fight 
was  totally  lacking;  and  that  he  was  called 
5 


66  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

upon  to  wage  a  fratricidal  war  absolutely 
abhorrent  to  his  convictions ;  in  itself  a  suf- 
ficient explanation  for  an  undeniable  faint- 
heartedness. 

When  in  later  years  the  forlorn  hope  of  de- 
fending a  dynasty,  discredited  by  perjury,  and 
covered  with  odium,  was  offered,  the  handful 
of  troops  which  remained  faithful  to  their  King, 
displayed  a  heroism  and  self-abnegation  at 
Gaeta  which  compelled  the  admiration  of 
their  political  enemies,  and  the  sympathy  of 
the  civilized  world. 

In  earlier  days  Napoleon  and  Murat  had  en- 
tertained the  highest  opinion,  and  expressed 
the  warmest  praise  for  the  Neapolitan  troops 
under  their  command.  In  Spain  with  Murat ; 
in  the  Russian  campaign  and  retreat  from 
Moscow  with  the  Emperor ;  at  the  battle  of 
Lutzer  and  before  Danzig,  their  bravery  and 
endurance  of  hardships  and  privations  had 
been  especially  commended  by  the  Emperor 
and  their  various  chiefs. 

Given  an  incentive  worthy  of  his  courage, 
and  led  by  chiefs  in  whom  confidence  could  be 
reposed,  the  Neapolitan  was  fully  equal  to 
any  demands  made  upon  him.  This  trust  was 
never  given  to  Ferdinand  ;  while  the  devotion 
displayed  in  the  lost  cause  of  his  successor  was 
more  the  result  of  fortuitous   circumstances 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  67 

than  any  conviction,  or  loyalty,  for  the  prin- 
ciples involved.  How  little  real  confidence 
Ferdinand  had  in  the  affection  of  his  troops, 
or  what  illusions  he  entertained  as  to  their 
loyalty  in  an  emergency,  is  strikingly  evinced 
by  the  treatment  of  the  pampered  Swiss  Guard 
to  whose  especial  care  the  safety  of  the  Throne 
was  entrusted.  These  consisted  of  four  regi- 
ments, recruited  for  the  most  part  in  the 
Catholic  cantons,  and  had  taken  the  place  of 
the  Austrians  after  the  Congress  of  Vienna  had 
definitely  arranged  the  political  status  of  what 
Count  Metternich  described  as  the  various 
"geographical  expressions  "  of  the  Peninsula. 
By  virtue  of  their  origin,  rather  political  than 
military,  the  Swiss  Guard  became  a  purely 
dynastic  institution,  and  as  such  the  recipient 
of  marked  attestation  of  royal  predilection. 
The  remuneration  was  two-thirds  greater  than 
that  of  the  Neapolitans,  while  they  enjoyed 
besides  numerous  privileges  and  indulgences 
denied  their  native-born  comrades.  Although 
in  the  ranks  might  be  found  men  of  question- 
able antecedents  and  more  than  doubtful 
character,  they  were  officered  exclusively  by 
representatives  of  the  oldest  and  most  dis- 
tinguished Swiss  families,  of  both  the  German 
and  French  Cantons,  and  included  some  of  the 
proudest  names  in  the  Confederation.     The 


68  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

cost  of  the  maintenance  of  this  body  exceeded 
six  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually  ;  but 
the  value  of  their  service  to  the  Crown  was  in- 
estimable. Naturally  enough  the  Neapolitan 
viewed  this  favored  outsider  with  envy  and 
hatred  ;  and  looking  upon  him  as  a  barbarian, 
lost  no  opportunity  for  stirring  up  trouble  and 
making  bad  blood.  On  the  other  hand  the 
privileged  mercenary  was  not  slow  to  retaliate, 
assured  of  the  indulgence  if  not  the  open 
approval  of  his  royal  master.  Thus  native 
and  foreigner  led  a  cat  and  dog  existence 
which  only  terminated  with  the  dissolution  of 
the  Swiss  regiments  resulting  from  their  mutiny 
in  1859. 

During  Ferdinand's  lifetime,  in  spite  of 
manifest  cause  for  discontent,  the  army  re- 
mained passively  indifferent  to  the  blandish- 
ments of  the  advocates  of  Liberalism  and 
Nationalism.  That  proselytes  abounded  in 
the  higher  grades  is  proved  by  the  sudden  suc- 
cess of  the  propaganda  immediately  following 
the  death  of  the  Despot.  The  personal  in- 
fluence of  the  Sovereign,  the  intense  fear  he 
inspired,  and  the  dread  of  his  vengeance, 
coupled  with  the  belief  in  the  fidelity  of  the 
Swiss  Guard,  were,  strange  as  it  must  appear, 
sufficient  to  keep  the  latent  forces  down.  With 
his  death  the  whole  edifice  crumbled  and  fell ; 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  69 

destroyed  not  merely  by  its  own  inherent  rot- 
tenness, but  swept  by  the  irresistible  political 
avalanche  from  beyond  the  frontiers. 

When  the  peculiar  configuration  of  the  King- 
dom is  considered  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  the  Neapolitan  marine  forces  were  in  no 
way  proportionate  to  the  requirements  of  the 
country.  Surrounded  on  three  sides  by  the 
sea,  with  the  greatest  and  most  populous  island 
of  the  Mediterranean  an  integral  part  of  the 
realm,  and  numerous  smaller  islands  dependent 
on  it,  the  resources  of  the  Neapolitan  Crown 
as  a  sea  power  were  insignificant.  The  fleet, 
although  neither  numerous  nor  powerful  in 
armament  or  tonnage,  was,  however,  well 
manned  and  officered,  the  organization  being 
far  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  in  Italy. 
Count  Cavour,  always  vigilantly  alert  for  im- 
provements in  the  Sardinian  service,  borrowed 
from  it  the  drill  practice,  and  flag  signal  sys- 
tem. Had  Ferdinand  displayed  the  same 
amount  of  interest  in  his  navy  as  he  lavished 
on  his  land  forces  the  material  was  at  hand 
wherewith  to  have  built  up  a  peculiarly  efl&cient 
service.  But  he  was  no  sailor  himself,  and  had 
moreover  made  the  grave  mistake  of  appoint- 
ing as  Vice- Admiral,  and  President  of  the  Ad- 
miralty Board,  his  brother,  the  Count  of 
Aqnila,  who  cared  even  less  for  naval  matters. 


70  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

This  branch  of  the  national  defence  was  conse- 
quently left  in  the  hands  of  oflBcers,  who  al- 
though individually  thoroughly  efi&cient  were, 
nevertheless,  powerless  to  procure  the  royal 
protection  necessary  to  advance  the  best  inter- 
ests of  their  service.  This  neglect  was  keenly 
felt,  and  in  his  hour  of  trial  was  the  cause  of 
bitter  humiliations  to  Ferdinand's  successor. 
The  Eoyal  Marine  College,  and  the  school  for 
the  education  of  non-commissioned  oflBcers,  sail- 
ors and  gunners,  were  ridiculously  insufllicient 
for  the  demands  of  the  service.  The  former 
accommodated  forty  pupils  who  graduated  as 
officers  and  naval  constructors ;  the  second 
institution  made  provision  for  only  fifty.  The 
High  Military  Court  was  common  to  both  serv- 
ices, and  was  composed  of  military  and  naval 
officers.  It  was  designed  as  a  species  of  Court 
of  Appeal,  more  especially  charged  with  the 
revision  of  courts-martial,  with  the  object  of 
defining  whether  the  law  of  procedure  had 
been  violated.  Unfortunately  this  institution, 
calculated  by  virtue  of  its  composite  character 
to  stand  as  a  healthy  corrective  of  bureau- 
cratic abuses,  was,  like  every  other  branch  of 
the  administrative  service,  poisoned  by  Court 
influences,  and  its  efficiency  destroyed  by  ob- 
sequious subservience  to  the  royal  will. 
The  arsenals  and  ship-yards  at  Naples  and 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  71 

Castellammare,  where  all  the  vessels  of  the 
fleet  were  constructed,  were  amongst  the  best 
of  their  kind  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  vastly 
superior  to  any  others  in  Italy. 

The  financial  system  of  the  Kingdom  was 
admirably  conceived  but  detestably  adminis- 
tered. Scialoia,  who  undertook  in  1857  a  paral- 
lel between  the  State  Budgets  of  the  Piedmont 
and  Naples,  demonstrated  that  the  subjects  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  II.  paid  a  mean  annual  tax 
of  twenty-six  lire  (about  five  dollars)  per  capita, 
while  those  of  King  Ferdinand  were  called 
upon  to  furnish  the  State  with  but  twenty-one 
lire.  The  former  had,  however,  as  compensa- 
tion for  their  slightly  heavier  burden,  greater 
security  for  individual  liberty  and  protection 
of  property ;  besides  economical  advantages 
resulting  from  the  ready  and  convenient  modes 
of  intercommunication,  works  of  public  utility, 
and  an  honest  administration.  None  of  these 
advantages  were  enjoyed  by  the  Neapolitan, 
whose  taxes  went  to  support  an  oppressive, 
corrupt  and  unprogressive  government.  The 
roads  throughout  the  Kingdom  were  wretched, 
and  for  political  considerations  purposely  kept 
80.  It  was  a  journey  of  twelve  days  from  Reg- 
gio  to  the  capital.  A  short  line  of  railway 
connected  Naples  with  Castellammare  on  the 
bay,  and  another  ran  to  the  Royal  Palace  at 


72  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Caserta ;  a  total  of  perhaps  eighty  kilometres 
for  the  two  lines.  Besides  these  no  others  ex- 
isted in  the  Kingdom. 

No  description,  however  summary,  of  the 
salient  features  of  that  period  of  Ferdinand's 
reign  embraced  between  the  return  to  the  re- 
actionary and  absolutist  policy  in  1849,  and  his 
death  ten  years  later,  would  be  complete  with- 
out a  glance  at  its  most  prominent  character- 
istic— the  Police. 

It  has  been  said  with  truth,  that  Ferdinand 
was  his  own  Prefect  of  Police.  He  received 
the  reports  of  the  official  chiefs  under  whom 
worked  an  army  of  inspectors,  detectives  and 
rapacious  spies,  whose  unholy  zeal  was  stimu- 
lated to  the  utmost  by  the  knowledge  that  they 
in  turn  were  tracked  and  spied  upon  by  secret 
agents  in  every  class  and  walk  of  life.  The 
demoralization  engendered  by  this  odious  es- 
pionage permeated  every  crevice  of  the  social 
fabric,  turning  to  fear  and  hate  the  relations 
between  officials  and  those  in  private  life,  and 
making  every  species  of  familiar  intercourse  a 
danger  few  cared  to  incur.  Politics,  local, 
national  or  international,  formed  the  quarry  of 
this  pack  of  voracious  sleuth  hounds.  To  hold 
political  opinions  contrary  to  those  dictated  by 
the  theories  of  Absolutism,  or  any  opinions  not 
in  accord  with  a  blind  subservience  to  the  will 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  73 

of  the  Despot,  constituted  treason.  The  ex- 
pression of  such  opinions,  even  in  private, 
branded  the  speaker  as  a  dangerous  demagogue  ; 
a  source  of  peril  to  organized  society,  and  con- 
sequently legitimate  prey  for  the  police.  As  a 
matter  of  course  this  branch  of  the  administra- 
tion became  omnipotent  not  only  in  the  affairs 
of  the  general  public  but  even  in  the  Palace. 
Ferdinand  himself  became  their  victim,  for 
realizing  their  power  the  various  chiefs  soon 
began  to  play  upon  the  credulous  timidity  of 
the  King,  exaggerating,  contorting,  or  even 
inventing  plots  which  should  redound  to  their 
personal  advantage,  or  increase  their  influence. 
Under  this  system  the  police  became  the 
greatest  and  most  powerful  institution  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at 
that  such  a  practically  limitless  sphere  of  au- 
thority should  have  engendered  intolerable 
abuses  and  acts  of  unwarranted  violence. 
Under  police  control  were  placed  :  excavations 
and  archaeological  research  ;  bands  of  music ; 
railways ;  the  census  ;  the  national  archives  ; 
the  telegraphs  ;  the  Ofl&cial  Journal ;  the  im- 
portations of  horses  from  abroad ;  the  post- 
office  ;  suppression  of  smuggling ;  and,  of 
course,  the  supervision  of  university  students 
and  those  attending  all  schools.  Even  diplo- 
matists and  Consular  agents  were  not  exempt 


74  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

from  their  inquisitorial  vigilance  ;  while  they 
kept  a  careful  eye  on  the  Guard  of  Honor  ;  the 
reserves  ;  the  prisons ;  and  the  pharmacies 
throughout  the  realm. 

The  events  of  1848  and  1849  had  determined 
King  Ferdinand  to  surround  his  subjects  with 
a  moral  Chinese  Wall  which  should  effectually 
shut  out  the  dreaded  Liberalism  which  had 
made  such  giant  strides  abroad.  Knowing  full 
well  the  vigorous  campaign  kept  up  beyond  the 
frontiers  against  his  reactionary  policy,  his 
chief  dread  of  the  dissemination  of  seditious 
theories  was  centred  in  the  foreign  Press. 
He  had  succeeded  in  muzzling,  and  rendering 
innocuous  the  journals  of  the  Kingdom,  but  his 
police  was  powerless  to  prevent  the  surrepti- 
tious introduction  of  newspapers  from  the 
north,  in  spite  of  an  army  of  censors.  These 
journals  circulated  in  the  universities  and 
schools,  being  forbidden  fruit,  were  read  with 
greedy  eagerness.  Had  the  police  confined 
themselves  to  unearthing  revolutionary  plots 
and  bringing  the  conspirators  to  judgment  they 
would  have  been  performing  a  manifest  duty, 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  public  order 
and  the  safety  of  the  State.  But  by  their 
unparalleled  brutality,  by  their  frenzied  despot- 
ism, constituting  a  form  of  tyranny  of  which 
the  King  himself  was  a  victim,  the  legitimate 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  75 

ends  were  smothered  in  a  heterogeneous  maze 
of  oppression,  cruelty,  deceit,  and  senseless 
persecution ;  arousing  the  defiant  irritation, 
the  madness  of  despair,  of  a  populace  which 
would  have  formulated  no  complaint  under  a 
reasonable  system.  To  be  arrested  because  the 
brim  of  a  hat  was  too  large,  and  might  signify 
conspiracy ;  to  be  arraigned  as  a  demagogue  on 
account  of  a  pointed  beard,  were  the  pin-pricks 
of  a  policy  which  provoked  even  the  most 
phlegmatic  citizen  who  sipped  his  coffee,  or 
toyed  with  his  *'  granita  "  under  the  awning  of 
a  cafe.  But  when  it  came  to  dragging  honest 
men  from  their  beds  in  the  dead  of  night  on 
the  merest  shadow  of  a  suspicion  of  complicity 
in  a  plot  which  had  no  more  substantial  exist- 
ence than  that  of  a  figment  conceived  in  some 
police  inspector's  brain  ;  and  leaving  the  victim 
to  languish,  untried,  for  months  in  one  or  other 
of  the  horrible,  pestilential  prisons,  the  thirst 
for  revenge  engendered  the  organism  of  revolt. 
Salvatore  Giampoalo,  a  Neapolitan  of  con- 
servative tendencies  who  published  his  memoirs 
shortly  after  the  annexation  of  Naples  to  Italy, 
says  that  the  police  system  of  those  times  con- 
stituted the  real  conspiracy  against  the  State 
and  against  the  Dynasty,  and  was  the  direct 
cause  of  the  events  of  1860.  Those  who  peruse 
the  long  list  of  victims,   and  the  sickening 


76  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

details  of  the  refinements  of  cruelty  and  torture 
inflicted — often  on  absolutely  innocent  men — 
will  agree  with  him. 

It  would  be  unfair  to  cast  the  whole  odium 
of  the  police  misrule  on  King  Ferdinand.  Yet 
he  originated  the  system,  and  if  the  vast 
machine  got  beyond  his  control,  the  responsi- 
bility was  still  his,  and  the  curses  of  his  sub- 
jects, together  with  the  indignation  of  the 
civilized  world,  were  hurled  at  the  Dynasty 
which  tolerated  such  anacronisms. 

In  as  great  a  measure  as  was  possible  Ferdi- 
nand had  isolated  himself  and  his  people  from 
the  political  influence  of  all  States  beyond  his 
frontiers,  excepting  the  Court  of  Rome.  We 
have  seen  that  his  diplomacy,  as  a  service,  was 
reduced  to  mere  watchfulness  on  the  part  of 
his  representatives  ;  they  being  allowed  to  take 
no  part  in  the  alliances  or  political  combina- 
tions of  the  years  succeeding  the  events  of  1849. 
The  atrocities  perpetrated  within  his  realms 
were,  however,  noised  abroad,  and  formed  the 
subject  of  frequent  diplomatic  warning,  and 
attempts  at  amicable  intercession.  The  storm 
raised  by  the  publication  of  Mr.  Gladstone's 
letters  threatened  for  a  time  serious  compli- 
cations, only  averted  by  the  impossibility  of 
accord  amongst  the  European  Powers,  and  the 
adroit  diplomacy  of  Austria.     Then  came  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  77 

Crimean  war  which  engaged  the  attention  not 
only  of  France  and  England,  but  also  of  Pied- 
mont. The  subsequent  Congress  of  Paris  gave 
Count  Cavour  his  long  awaited  opportunity  for 
drawing  official  notice  to  the  condition  of  the 
Italian  States  under  Austrian  influence. 
Cavour's  insinuations  and  censure  had  the  de- 
sired effect  on  public  opinion ;  but  until  Aus- 
tria could  be  humbled  it  was  useless  to  attempt 
to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil.  Napoleon's  : 
"  Que  peut-on  faire  pour  I'ltalie/'  set  Cavour 
on  the  track  of  an  eventuality  to  be  patiently 
schemed  for,  and  laboriously  cultivated  until 
the  propitious  moment  for  joint  action  arrived, 
and  Magenta  and  Solferino  opened  up  a  vista 
of  dazzling  possibilities. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  storm-clouds  continued 
to  gather.  Diplomatic  notes  reached  Naples 
in  May,  1856,  in  which  the  Cabinets  of  London 
and  Paris  intimated,  in  no  ambiguous  language, 
that  it  would  be  advisable  that  an  amnesty  be 
granted  to  political  prisoners,  and  that  radical 
reforms  be  undertaken  in  the  judicial  adminis- 
tration of  the  Kingdom.  Ferdinand  replied 
that  he  considered  himself  the  only  competent 
judge  of  what  was  necessary  within  his  realm  ; 
and  reminded  Count  Walewsky  and  Lord  Clar- 
endon that  he  recognized  the  right  of  no  gov- 
ernment to  interfere  in  the  administration  of  a 


78  THS  COLLAPSE  OF 

foreign  State  ;  and  especially  in  questions  af- 
fecting the  dispensation  of  judicial  authority. 
Although  undoubtedly  strictly  within  his  rights 
as  the  legitimate  ruler  of  an  independent 
State,  Ferdinand  would  certainly  have  hesi- 
tated a  few  years  earlier  before  despatching  so 
categorical  a  reply  to  such  powerful  counsellors. 
But  his  diplomatic  astuteness  had  become 
blunted,  and  he  who  had  been  a  past  master 
in  the  crafty  art  of  dissimulation  and  intrigue 
in  his  younger  days,  now  rashly  assumed  an  in- 
flexible attitude  of  obstinate  defiance  in  the 
face  of  the  disapprobation  of  the  better  half  of 
Europe.  In  spite  of  the  unsatisfactory  politi- 
cal conditions  existing  at  home,  and  the  open 
hostility  this  abrupt  repudiation  of  advice 
must  entail,  he  discarded  '  the  equivocal 
assurances  which  would  at  least  have  tempora- 
rily silenced  his  inopportunate  admonishers  ; 
thus  placing  himself  in  direct  antagonism 
with  the  Emperor  whose  star  was  so  greatly  in 
the  ascendant,  and  whom  he  had  been  the  first 
to  recognize  on  his  assumption  of  the  Imperial 
purple.  The  inevitable  result  was  the  rupture 
of  diplomatic  relations,  the  English  and  French 
representatives  demanding,  and  receiving,  their 
passports. 

October  twenty-first,  1856,  was  a  gala  day 
for  the  Liberals  who  recognized  in  the  depar- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  79 

tnre  of  the  representatives  of  powers  friendly 
to  their  cause  the  forerunner  of  the  dawn  which 
should  usher  in  their  triumph.  Sympathetic 
demonstrations  greeted  the  diplomatists  as  they 
drove  through  the  streets  of  Naples,  in  spite  of 
the  precautions  taken  by  the  police.  The  in- 
cident had,  however,  no  tangible  result  beyond 
the  temporary  cessation  of  oflBcial  intercourse, 
and  in  due  time  the  respective  Legations  were 
reoccupied  by  their  former  tenants.  Neverthe- 
less Count  Cavonr  and  the  Liberal  Party  were 
right  in  estimating  the  occurrence  as  a  triumph 
for  the  Italian  cause.  Although  Austrian  in- 
fluence had  apparently  scored  a  victory,  Ferdi- 
nand's lack  of  political  foresight,  or  insuperable 
distrust,  threw  the  omnipotent  French  Emperor 
into  the  outstretched  arms  of  the  House  of 
Savoy ;  a  circumstance  Cavour  had  foreseen 
and  prepared  for.  By  this  ill-considered  policy, 
while  he  secured  the  isolation  his  timorous  soul 
craved,  he  encompassed  his  own  ruin,  and  fur- 
thered the  political  combinations  of  the  enemies 
of  the  only  foreign  State  whose  influence  he 
tolerated.  It  appears  incomprehensible  that  a 
man  who  had  displayed  such  marked  political 
ability,  especially  amongst  the  tortuous  paths 
and  pitfalls  of  diplomacy,  should  become  so 
blinded  by  prejudice.  That  Ferdinand  was 
convinced  that  the  consummation  of  a  united 


80  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Italy  was  not  at  any  moment  contemplated  by 
Napoleon  III.,  and  that  the  inviolability  of  the 
Papal  States  was  assured,  is  not  improbable. 
Cavour  himself  had  at  that  time  no  plan  beyond 
the  expulsion  of  Austria ;  and  even  the  later 
promise  of  the  French  Emperor  to  free  Italy 
**from  the  Alps  to  the  Adriatic"  was  not  in- 
terpreted to  embrace  Southern  Italy.  Theoret- 
ically this  reasoning  was  correct.  Yet  at  the 
same  time  Ferdinand  had  ample  and  frequent 
demonstration  of  the  deep-rooted  discontent 
amongst  the  more  intelligent  and  cultured 
classes  of  his  subjects,  and  of  the  wide-spread 
unpopularity  of  his  Dynasty.  He  was  not  igno- 
rant of  the  sympathies,  insignificant  and  re- 
stricted to  a  small  circle,  it  is  true,  entertained 
for  Prince  Murat,  but  which,  nevertheless, 
owing  to  the  relationship  existing  with  the  all- 
powerful  Emperor,  were  not  unworthy  of  con- 
sideration under  conditions  so  essentially  un- 
satisfactory at  home  and  abroad.  A  more 
plausible  explanation,  but  one  for  which,  while 
frequently  advanced  there  exists  absolutely  no 
reliable  authority,  is  that  the  misguided  King 
had  come  to  a  mutual  personal  understanding 
with  Austria  and  Russia,  although  no  formal 
treaty  or  league  existed.  This  theory,  which 
is  cited  merely  as  an  historical  legend,  is  not 
necessarily  invalidated  by  the  fact  that  Ferdi- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  81 

nand  refused  an  avowed  alliance  with  Russia,  or 
by  the  subsequent  efforts  of  his  successor  to 
obtain  the  support  of  Piedmont  and  the  good 
offices  of  the  French  Emperor.  However  this 
may  be,  the  conduct  of  the  Neapolitan  Court 
in  1856  drove  another  nail  into  the  coffin  of 
the  Bourbon  dynasty,  while  it  strengthened 
the  Liberalist  cause,  gaining  for  it  the  service- 
able forbearance  of  powerful  neutfals,  perhaps 
not  in  complete  sympathy  with  the  funda- 
mental creed  of  the  movement. 
6 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Count  Cavour's  projects  for  alliance  with  Naples.— The  Plom- 
bidres'  interview.— Plans  of  Napoleon  III.  and  Cavour.— 
Dynastic  ambitions.— Proposed  partition  of  the  Peninsula.— 
Attempted  assassination  of  Ferdinand  II.— Milano  and 
"Young  Italy."— Political  significance  of  attack.— Pisacane's 
expedition.- The  "  Cagliari  "  incident.— British  claims.— 
Lord  Malmesbury  on  transportation  of  [tolitical  prisoners.— 
Diplomatic  interference  —Ferdinand's  policy  from  1856-59 
reviewed.— His  reactionary  measures.— His  bigotry  and 
superstitions. 

It  is  now  very  definitely  substantiated  by  the 
recent  publication  of  political  documents  and 
diplomatic  despatches,  that  Count  Cayour  had, 
up  to  the  period  of  Garibaldi^s  unexpected 
achievements,  formed  no  concrete  plan  for  the 
annexation  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies 
to  the  House  of  Savoy.  His  opposition  to  the 
Bourbons  of  Naples,  and  his  attacks  on  the  fla- 
grant misrule  existing  within  their  realm,  were 
prompted  by  the  Austrian  influences  para- 
mount there  and  so  detrimental  to  his  projects 
for  the  emancipation  of  northern  Italy.  Prior 
to  Magenta,  and  for  a  considerable  period  there- 
after, we  have  irrefutable  evidence  that  he 
would  have  urged  his  Sovereign  to  welcome  an 
82 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  83 

alliance  with  the  southern  Kingdom  for  pur- 
poses of  united  action  in  driving  out  the  foreign- 
er. Had  this  been  accomplished  the  sacrifice 
of  Nice  and  Savoy  might  have  been  avoided, 
for  Napoleon,  after  Villafranca  and  the  conse- 
quent non-fulfilment  of  his  engagements,  had 
himself  absolved  Victor  Emmanuel  and  Cavour 
from  the  obligations  previously  contracted  : 
although  it  is  certain  that  France  would  in  this 
case  have  considered  herself  entitled  to  some 
compensation  for  the  (at  that  moment  unfore- 
seen) annexation  of  Tuscany.  The  political 
unity  of  the  Peninsula  must  thereby  have  been 
retarded,  although  its  ultimate  accomplish- 
ment was  inevitable.  Yet  again,  the  unfortu- 
nate chaotic  interval  after  the  fall  of  Gaeta 
would  have  been  avoided  by  allowing  the  Nea- 
politans time  and  opportunity  to  themselves 
throw  off  the  yoke,  as  the  Tuscans  had  done. 
Cavour  realized  this :  and  being  perfectly 
satisfied  that  the  plum  must  eventually  fall  into 
his  royal  master's  lap,  was  content  to  let  it 
ripen  thoroughly  on  the  tree  ;  having  no  relish 
for  green  fruit.  This  philosophic  nonchalance 
was,  however,  attended  by  a  systematic  solicitude 
that  the  warm  sunshine  of  Liberalism,  as  evinced 
by  the  Constitutional  Government  of  Piedmont, 
should  be  given  every  opportunity  to  hasten  the 
maturity  of  the  luscious  southern  fruit.     Too 


84  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

wise  to  show  his  hand  so  early  in  the  game, 
while  apparently  failing  in  with  the  Emperor's 
never  very  definite  plan  for  a  restoration  of  the 
Murat  regime  at  Naples,  he  kept  his  official  and 
non-official  agents  actively  employed  in  dis- 
seminating an  essentially  Pan-Italian  propa- 
ganda. 

During  the  famous  Plombidres  interview,  in 
July,  1858,  when  Napoleon  III.  and  Count 
Cavour  were  casting  about  for  a  plausible 
pretext  for  a  joint  declaration  of  war  on  Austria, 
the  difficulties  of  a  satisfactory  re-arrangement 
of  the  Italian  chessboard  came  under  discus- 
sion. The  Pope  and  the  King  of  Naples  caused 
the  Emperor  considerable  embarrassment  :  the 
first  on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  Catholic 
sympathies  of  France,  with  which  he  would 
have  to  reckon,  must  be  with  the  Head  of  the 
Church ;  the  second  because  any  attack  on 
King  Ferdinand  would  arouse  the  susceptibili- 
ties of  Eussia,  who  made  a  point  of  honor  of 
protecting  him.  Cavour,  equal  to  the  occasion, 
pointed  out  to  the  Emperor  that  it  would  un- 
doubtedly be  advisable  to  leave  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  in  the  possession  of  Rome,  protected  as 
he  was  by  the  French  garrison,  but  that  on 
account  of  the  notoriously  bad  government  of 
the  Romagna  provinces  under  Papal  rule,  there 
could  be  no  objection  to  allowing  them  to 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  85 

revolt.  As  for  the  King  of  Naples,  he  might 
be  left  undisturbed,  unless  he  took  sides  with 
Austria.  Nevertheless  his  subjects  might  also 
be  permitted  to  revolt  if  they  considered  the 
moment  opportune  for  casting  aside  the  paternal 
domination  of  the  Bourbons. 

This  arrangement  being  satisfactory  to  the 
Emperor,  the  following  map  of  Italy  was  de- 
cided upon.  The  Valley  of  the  Po,  Eo- 
magna  and  the  legations  (Bologna  and  Perrara) 
would  constitute  the  Kingdom  of  Upper  Italy, 
and  would  be  governed  by  the  House  of  Savoy. 
The  Pope  would  retain  Rome,  and  the  territory 
surrounding  it.  The  rest  of  the  Papal  states, 
together  with  Tuscany,  would  form  the  King- 
dom of  Central  Italy.  The  States  of  the  King- 
dom of  Naples  would  not  be  interfered  with. 
These  four  Italian  States  would  constitute  a 
Confederation  similar  to  the  Germanic,  the 
Presidency  of  which  would  be  given  to  the  Pope. 

Cavour,  in  transmitting  an  account  of  this 
conversation  to  Victor  Emmanuel,  adds  :  "  This 
arrangement  seemed  to  me  quite  acceptable. 
According  to  its  provisions  Your  Majesty  being 
already  by  right  Sovereign  of  the  richest  and 
strongest  portion  of  Italy,  would  become  the 
effective  sovereign  of  the  whole  Peninsula." 

During  this  same  conversation  Napoleon  III. 
«pok€  openly  of  the  pleasure  it  would  afford 


86  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

him  could  he  return  to  Murat  the  throne  which 
had  been  occupied  by  his  father. 

The  price  of  this  compact,  which  Bismarck 
sneeringly  styled  'Ma  politique  de  pourboire/' 
was  to  be  :  as  a  retainer,  the  hand  of  Victor  Em- 
manuel's eldest  daughter,  Princess  Clotilde,  for 
the  Emperor's  cousin  Prince  Jerome  ;  and, 
on  execution,  the  cession  of  Savoy  and  Nice  to 
France. 

The  conditions  were  onerous,  but  the  immense 
advantages  which  would  accrue  to  his  royal 
master  caused  Cavour  to  eloquently  urge  their 
acceptance. 

In  forming  a  judgment  of  the  third  Na- 
poleon's policy  and  actions  in  Italy  it  is  of 
importance  that  what  may  be  termed  dynastic 
pride  be  not  overlooked.  The  Emperor  may, 
or  may  not,  have  been  sincere  in  his  avowed 
sympathy  with  national  aspirations  in  the 
abstract ;  in  practice  a  united  Italy  was 
manifestly  detrimental  to  French  interests,  and 
could  not  fail  to  be  so  considered  by  French 
Statesmen.  The  treaties  of  1815  not  only  hum- 
bled France  while  overturning  the  Napoleonic 
dynasty :  the  maintenance  of  their  stipula- 
tions lessened  the  prestige  of  the  Second 
Empire.  Austrian  supremacy  over  what  had 
been  one  of  the  brightest  jewels  in  his  uncle's 
sceptre  constituted  an    unquestionable   check 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES,  87 

to  the  nephew  who  sought  to  revive  the  lustre 
and  traditions  of  that  brilliant  epoch.  Cavour 
with  penetrating  insight,  and  thorough  under- 
standing of  the  foibles  and  ambitions  of  the 
new  Caesar,  encouraged  this  policy  to  the 
best  of  his  ability,  at  the  same  time  bringing 
into  play  every  subterfuge  by  which  the  Italian 
cause  might  profit  without  a  corresponding 
advantage  being  reaped  by  his  Imperial  ally 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  Peninsula.  We 
have  witnessed  his  acceptance  of  the  Plombidres 
compact  by  which  the  political  geography  of 
Italy  was  to  be  transformed,  and  it  is  known 
that  Napoleon  had  on  this  occasion  hinted  at 
the  desire  that  his  cousin  Jerome  might  be 
intrusted  with  the  administration  of  Tuscany. 
But  to  neither  this  scheme  nor  the  proposal 
that  Murat  be  given  the  throne  of  Naples,  did 
Cavour  commit  himself,  although  he  bowed 
before  the  expression  of  the  Emperor's  wishes. 
Help  to  drive  out  the  foreign  invader  was  im- 
perative, and  the  price  coveted  for  such  aid  he 
could  offer.  Once  this  accomplished,  the 
famous  "  Italia  fard  da  se  "  would  suffice  for 
the  decisions  concerning  the  occupancy  of  the 
vacant  throne  or  thrones,  and  the  signs  of  the 
times  left  little  doubt  as  to  who  would  be 
elected.  Villafrance  came  nigh  to  destroying 
all  these  patiently  elaborated  plans,  while  the 


88  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

hastily  convened  congress  at  Zurich  still  further 
darkened  the  horizon.  In  the  meanwhile  por- 
tentous events  neutralized  the  significance  of 
the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  diplomatic  Con- 
gress assembled  in  Switzerland,  and  swept  the 
prudently  prepared  combinations  of  Cavour 
himself,  not  to  ruin,  but  towards  unlooked-for 
success. 

The  meeting  at  Plombi^res,  although  the 
drift  of  the  conversations  between  the  Emperor 
and  Cavour  could  only  have  been  surmised  by 
him,  left  Ferdinand  uneasy.  The  close  amity 
existing  between  France  and  Piedmont  fore- 
boded no  good  for  Naples,  and  must  be  con- 
sidered in  the  light  of  encouragement  by  the 
Liberals,  who  turned  to  the  French  Emperor 
for  the  furtherance  of  their  plans. 

The  Neapolitan  King  had  been  much  im- 
pressed by  the  political  significance  of  the  des- 
perate attack  upon  his  life  made  by  Milano,  on 
December  8,  1856.  The  assassin,  one  Agesilao 
Milano,  a  private  in  one  of  the  regiments  sta- 
tioned at  Naples,  wonld  appear  to  have  nursed 
the  plan  of  ridding  his  country  of  the  enemy 
of  national  regeneration  for  a  considerable 
period,  and  certainly  displayed  great  cunning 
and  perseverance  in  putting  himself  in  a  posi- 
tion to  accomplish  his  object.  A  blind  and 
unreasoning  adherent  to  the  teachings  of  Maz- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  89 

zini,  he  had  become  affiliated  with  the  society 
of  *'  Young  Italy "  during  his  sojourn  in 
Naples,  and  had  proclaimed  to  the  companions 
to  whom  he  owed  his  initiation  his  determina- 
tion to  sacrifice  his  life  for  the  cause.  In 
vain  his  sponsors  warned  him  of  the  futility 
of  such  isolated  action,  and  urged  him  to  wait 
until  arrangements  could  be  made  for  a  general 
uprising  to  follow  a  successful  assassination. 
His  thirst  for  martyrdom  was  not  to  be  over- 
come by  any  arguments  of  prudence  or  expe- 
diency, although  when  the  moment  he  had 
chosen  arrived,  he  led  them  astray  by  feigning 
to  have  postponed  his  intention. 

Mazzini,  while  he  never  actually  advocated 
assassination  for  the  attainment  of  the  political 
aims  of  his  sect,  did  not  on  the  other  hand  op- 
pose extreme  measures  when  brought  to  his 
notice.  On  such  occasions  he  evasively  argued 
that  the  responsibility  rested  upon  the  indi- 
vidual, not  on  the  society  or  its  doctrines.  If 
he  did  not  actually  place  the  knife  in  the  hands 
of  his  disciples,  ho  was  nevertheless  disinclined 
to  disarm,  or  even  discourage,  the  individual 
avenger  of  political  wrongs  whose  lower  in- 
stincts led  him  to  adopt  assassination  as  a  means 
to  his  ends.  In  the  present  instance  Milano 
appears  to  have  been  guided  by  the  spirit  if  not 
the  letter  of  the  doctrines  he  had  imbibed,  act- 


90  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

ing  on  his  own  initiative  in  as  far  as  the  moment 
to  be  selected,  but  in  obedience  to  the  moral 
suasion  of  at  least  two  of  his  fellow-associates. 
At  a  review  which  Ferdinand  was  holding  at 
Naples  on  the  above  mentioned  date,  Milano, 
selecting  the  opportunity  when  in  the  march 
past  he  found  himself  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
King,  suddenly  left  the  ranks  and  rushing  up- 
on his  victim  aimed  a  violent  bayonet  thrust, 
which  must  inevitably  have  been  fatal  had  not 
the  pistol-case  at  the  bow  of  the  saddle  turned 
aside  the  weapon,  which  glancing  off  inflicted 
but  a  slight  wound.  Before  Milano  could 
make  the  second  lunge  which  he  attempted,  he 
was  seized  and  overpowered  by  those  surround- 
ing the  King.  Ferdinand,  in  spite  of  his  wound, 
is  said  to  have  displayed  the  greatest  calm  and 
courage.  The  review  was  not  interrupted, 
many  close  at  hand  being  unaware  that  an  at- 
tempt on  the  King^s  life  had  been  perpetrated. 
To  Count  di  Montemolino  who  witnessed  the 
assault,  and  rushed  to  the  King's  aid,  Ferdinand 
whispered:  "Stand  back.  Keep  silent."  This 
presence  of  mind  undoubtedly  saved  Naples  a 
bloody  conflict.  Had  the  attempted  assassina- 
tion been  generally  observed  it  would  immedi- 
ately have  been  attributed  to  a  military  con- 
spiracy, and  the  Swiss  regiments  have  been 
called  upon  by  their  officers  to  fire  on  the  native 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  91 

troops  then  and  there.  General  Sigrist,  com- 
manding the  Swiss  regiments,  has  asserted  that 
had  he  witnessed  Milano's  assault  he  would 
unhesitatingly  have  given  such  an  order ;  and 
it  has  also  been  stated  by  officers  in  the  Nea- 
politan army  that  they  would  have  retaliated 
with  their  artillery.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  populace  must  inevitably  have  be- 
come involved,  and  the  slaughter  been  enor- 
mous. It  has  been  suggested  that  Milano  may 
have  had  this  eventuality  in  view  ;  and  counted 
on  a  civil  war  to  facilitate  a  general  rising  of 
the  Liberals  throughout  the  Kingdom. 

The  review  over,  Ferdinand,  surrounded  by 
his  Bodyguard,  was  driven  rapidly  to  the  Pal- 
ace, and  immediately  summoned  his  physician. 
The  possibility  having  been  suggested  that  the 
weapon  was  poisoned,  the  Queen  threw  herself 
on  her  knees  and  sucked  the  wound. 

During  the  inquiry  which  was  immediately 
instituted,  Milano  indignantly  repudiated  the 
plea  of  insanity  advanced  by  his  advocate,  and 
repeatedly  maintained  that  his  act  was  pre- 
meditated and  unrepented.  A  Court-martial 
in  due  time  condemned  the  would-be  assassin 
to  death  by  hanging.  When  the  sentence  was 
read  to  him  he  raised  his  eyes  to  Heaven,  and 
exclaimed :  **  My  God,  I  die  like  a  thief  for 
Italian  Liberty." 


93  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Many  arrests  were  made  in  connection  with 
this  affair,  and  numerous  expulsions  from  the 
army  followed,  but  no  actual  accomplices  were 
discovered.  Ferdinand  is  credited  with  the 
desire  to  spare  the  man's  life,  but  is  said  to  have 
been  overruled  by  the  protests  of  the  members 
of  the  Government  and  his  Household,  as  well 
as  by  the  advice  of  certain  foreign  representa- 
tives at  his  court.  Of  course  the  police  re- 
doubled their  activity  in  the  search  for  possible 
accomplices  or  conspirators  ;  no  portion  of  the 
Kingdom  being  exempt  from  their  fiendish 
machinations  and  brutal  despotism. 

Milano's  crime,  despite  the  precipitancy  of 
its  author  which  had  made  collective  action 
impossible,  nevertheless  aroused  the  Liberals 
to  an  appreciation  of  the  necessity  for  cohesion. 
Many  of  the  revolutionary  clubs  and  associa- 
tions dated  their  organization  from  this  event. 
The  malcontents  waxed  bolder  notwithstand- 
ing the  vigilance  of  the  police  ;  clandestine 
printing  presses  sprang  up  and  issued  sediti'^us 
literature  which  found  ready  circulation 
throughout  the  realm.  On  several  occasions 
the  walls  of  Naples  were  placarded  with  revo- 
lutionary posters,  to  the  delight  of  the  popu- 
lace and  fury  of  the  authorities.  Tricolor 
cockades  were  secretly  distributed  ;  and  in  the 
theatres   the  audiences    clamored   continually 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  93 

for  Verdi.  The  significance  of  the  sudden 
enthusiasm  for  this  composer  lay  in  the  dis- 
covery that  the  letters  spelling  his  name  also 
formed  the  anagram  :  **  Vittorio  Emmannuele 
Ee  D'ltalia."  Nor  were  the  Unionists  alone 
in  their  efforts  to  foment  agitation  ;  the  adher- 
ents of  Prince  Murat,  and  the  followers  of 
Mazzini  were  also  in  the  field,  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  any  opportunity  which  might  of- 
fer to  raise  the  standard  of  revolt. 

Mazzini  himself  came  to  Genoa  to  settle,  with 
Carlo  Pisacane,  the  details  of  the  plot,  after- 
wards celebrated  in  the  annals  of  diplomacy  as 
the  "Cagliari"  incident.  This  expedition, 
which  vied  in  audacity  with  that  of  the  heroic 
Bandiera  brothers  in  1844,  was  undertaken  by 
a  handful  of  brave  but  misinformed  enthusi- 
asts ;  and  included  besides  the  leader  Pisacane,. 
Giovanni  Nicotera,  afterwards  one  of  King 
Humbert*8  Cabinet  Ministers.  The  lines  on 
which  the  expedition  was  planned  were  simple 
enough,  but  the  links  of  the  chain  became  dis- 
jointed at  the  outset  through  failure  to  meet 
Rosolino  Pilo  as  had  been  arranged,  and  to  re- 
ceive from  him  the  arms  and  men  deemed  nec- 
essary to  take  possession  of  the  steamer  "  Cag- 
liari,*'  on  which  the  conspirators  had  embarked. 
Pisacane,  however,  succeeded  in  winning  over 
the  captain  and  crew  of  the  steamer  without 


94  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

the  use  of  force,  and  induced  them  to  steer  for 
the  convict  station  on  the  island  of  Ponza. 
Here  they  surprised  the  small  garrison  and  re- 
leased the  eight  hundred  prisoners  confined 
there.  Eeinforced  by  three  hundred  and 
twenty-three  of  these,  and  having  collected 
arms  and  ammunition,  they  again  set  sail  and 
effected  a  landing  at  Sapri,  on  the  Calabrian 
coast,  on  June  28,  1857.  In  the  meanwhile 
Mazzini  having  heard  that  the  junction  with 
Eosolino  Pino  had  failed,  and,  taking  it  for 
granted  that  the  whole  scheme  had  miscarried, 
neglected  to  prepare  his  agents  for  the  arrival 
of  the  conspirators.  In  addition  to  this  the 
information  as  to  the  readiness  of  the  populace 
to  welcome  their  deliverers  proved  grossly  erro- 
neous, and  the  invaders  soon  found  themselves 
arrayed  not  only  against  the  Royal  troops,  but 
in  actual  conflict  with  the  very  peasants  they 
had  come  to  emancipate  from  the  yoke  of  the 
Bourbon.  Defeated  and  hunted  for  days  amidst 
the  mountains,  where  the  inhabitants  slaugh- 
tered all  on  whom  they  could  lay  hands,  the 
leaders  were  finally  arrested  and  condemned  to 
death :  a  sentence  afterwards  commuted  by 
Ferdinand. 

Meanwhile  the  "  Cagliari "  in  attempting  to 
leave  the  Gulf  of  Policastro,  after  landing  Pisa- 
cane's  band,  was  boarded  by  a  Neapolitan  frig- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  95 

ate,  **  Tancredi,"  and  declared  a  lawful  prize. 
This  action  gave  rise  to  the  diplomatic  contro- 
versy which  really  lent  importance  to  a  singu- 
larly romantic,  but  otherwise  not  uncommon 
revolutionary,  incident.  It  would  seem  im- 
possible to  absolve  the  vessel  of  the  charge 
of  pure  and  simple  filibustering ;  and  thus 
the  case  appeared  to  most  people.  But 
Count  Cavour  took  a  different  view,  and  en- 
couraged the  demand  of  the  Rubattino  Com- 
pany that  their  vessel  be  returned  to  them. 
Backed  by  the  British  Minister  at  Turin,  who 
seized  as  a  pretext  to  interest  himself  in  the 
dispute  the  fact  that  two  of  the  engineers  of 
the  captured  steamer  were  English  subjects, 
Cavour  insisted  that  the  vessel  was  protected 
by  the  Sardinian  flag,  and  had,  moreover,  been 
illegally  boarded  in  waters  beyond  the  limits  of 
Neapolitan  jurisdiction.  Notwithstanding  this 
very  debatable  point  and  the  unquestionable 
object  of  the  voyage.  Lord  Derby,  on  May  25, 
1858,  caused  a  threatening  note  to  be  written, 
declaring  the  capture  of  the  "  Cagliari  "  a  vio- 
lation of  maritime  law,  and  that  it  behoved 
Great  Britain,  in  the  interests  of  such  regula- 
tions, to  insist  on  the  liberation  of  the  crew 
and  the  return  of  the  vessel  to  her  owners. 
There  was  no  alternative  for  the  unfortunate 
Ferdinand,  in  view  of  this  energetic  interven- 


96  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

tion,  but  the  payment  of  three  thousand  pounds 
as  indemnity  to  the  two  foreign  engineers,  and 
the  restitution  of  the  captured  vessel. 

Arbitrary  as  the  ruling  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment  undoubtedly  was  in  the  present  instance, 
and  bitterly  humiliating  to  the  Sovereign,  Fer- 
dinand dared  not  protest.  Universal  indigna- 
tion had  been  aroused  abroad  by  the  recent 
negotiations  opened  with  the  Argentine  Repub- 
lic seeking  to  arrange  for  the  exportation  to 
that  country  of  political  prisoners  under  guar- 
antees that  they  should  be  so  provided  for  as 
to  relieve  the  Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies  from 
all  fear  of  further  molestation.  These  stipula- 
tions, stigmatized  in  the  English  Parliament 
as  a  revival  of  the  slave  trade,  and  which  prac- 
tically sold  the  victims  into  bondage  under  a 
foreign  and  half-civilized  State,  offended  the 
humanitarian  instincts  of  Europe.  Owing  to 
the  violent  denunciations  this  proposal  elic- 
ited, especially  the  campaign  waged  by  the 
London  '*  Times,"  it  was  decided  to  embark  the 
more  notorious  of  the  prisoners  on  a  man-of- 
war,  and  transship  them  in  a  Spanish  port  to  a 
merchant  vessel  bound  for  New  York.  The 
first  half  of  the  programme  was  successfully  car- 
ried out,  but  the  exiles  having  prevailed  upon 
the  captain  of  the  merchantman  to  land  them 
in  England,  were  speedily  enabled  to  renew 


THE  KINGDOM  Of  NAPLES.  97 

their  conspiracies,  enhanced  by  the  halo  of 
martyrdom  acquired  by  their  recent,  and  loudly 
heralded  experiences. 

Lord  Malmesbury,  writing  on  January  23, 
1869,  to  the  Prussian  Minister  in  London, 
says:*  "Having  received  notice  that  several 
of  the  political  prisoners  were  to  be  sent  to 
America,  I  was  led  to  hope  that  our  official 
relations  with  the  Government  of  Naples  might 
be  resumed.  But  my  illusion  was  short-lived. 
Unfortunately  the  Neapolitan  Government  ac- 
companied this  act  of  mercy  by  a  decree  which 
curtails  for  the  future  the  civil  liberty  of 
millions  of  subjects.  This  policy  is  as  incom- 
prehensible as  it  is  distasteful  to  the  English 
Government.  The  decree  of  December  27, 
1858,  is  a  permanent  violation  of  Neapolitan 
laws  :  consequently  it  is  worse  than  the  tempo- 
rary state  of  siege.  It  is  therefore  impossible 
for  the  Government  of  Her  Majesty,  after  hav- 
ing broken  off  diplomatic  relations  with  the 
Neapolitan  Government  in  1856  because  its 
proceedings  were  tyrannical,  to  resume  them 
in  1859,  when  Ferdinand  II.  still  further  re- 
stricts the  civil  and  political  guarantees  of  his 
people,  and  entrusts  to  Courts-martial  the  juris- 
dictions over  political  misdemeanors.*' 

The  Emperor  of  the  French   protested  in 
*  Translated  from  the  Italian  version. 
7 


98  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

like  manner  ;  but  Ferdinand  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  warning  and  entreaty.  Almost  his  last 
official  act  (May  16,  1859)  was  an  intimation 
that  his  Ambassador  would  only  be  permitted 
to  return  to  Paris  with  the  explicit  understand- 
ing that  no  demands  be  made  relative  to  the 
internal  administration  of  the  Kingdom.  And 
this  after  the  declaration  of  war  upon  Austria 
by  France  and  Sardinia  ! 

The  last  three  years  of  Ferdinand's  life 
(1856-1859)  were  marked  by  an  increasingly 
persistent  endeavor  to  collect  and  maintain 
every  detail  of  the  Administration  within  his 
own  grasp.  At  the  same  time,  appreciating 
the  immense  power  of  the  Church,  he  aimed  at 
a  closer  community  of  interests  between  the 
Altar  and  the  Throne.  The  Council  of  Bishops 
held  at  Caserta,  had  in  view  the  elaboration  of 
a  system  by  means  of  which  the  Clergy  would 
be  placed  in  a  position  not  unlike  that  which 
they  held  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;  the  power  and 
prerogatives  of  the  Crown,  far  from  being  sac- 
rificed, being  still  jealously  guarded,  or  in- 
creased. It  was,  in  fact,  a  compact  between 
the  Church  and  Crown  directed  against  the 
interests  and  liberties  of  the  State.  By  his 
rescripts  of  May  3  and  August  15,  1856,  Ferdi- 
nand ordered  that  the  organized  charitable  in- 
stitutions should  hand  over  to  the  Bishops  a 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  99 

portion  of  their  revenues,  or  of  the  capital 
donated  by  testators.  Successive  decrees  issued 
in  1857  restored  to  ecclesiastics,  in  violation  of 
the  fundamental  laws  of  the  Kingdom,  privi- 
leges of  which  they  had  been  deprived  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  as  being  incompatible 
with  the  advance  of  civilization.  The  decree 
of  May  6,  1857,  granted  the  privilege  to  priests 
and  monks  of  trial  for  penal  offences  in  secret 
audience,  and  of  expiating  the  correctional 
sentences  inflicted  in  religious  houses.  The 
Bishops  were  intrusted,  in  May  of  the  same 
year,  with  the  revision  and  censorship  of  the 
Press  ;  thus  annulling  the  law  of  August  13, 
1850,  which  provided  for  the  execution  of  this 
duty  by  the  Council  of  Public  Instruction. 
The  law  which  forbade  priests  to  bless  a  mar- 
riage before  it  had  been  sanctioned  by  the  civil 
authorities  was  abolished.  Amongst  other 
retrograde  concessions  the  Bishops  were  pro- 
claimed inspectors  by  right  of  ofl&ce  of  all  pub- 
lic and  private  schools. 

While  placing  the  country  under  the  heel  of 
the  Clergy,  Ferdinand  nevertheless  maintained 
his  despotism  in  all  essentials.  Although  the 
influence  of  the  Jesuits  was  extended,  Absolut- 
ism was  strengthened  by  placing  the  educa- 
tional institutions  under  the  guidance  of  men 
devoted  to  his  person,  and  presumably  to  his 


THE  COLLAPSE  OF  100 

dynasty.  Yet  herein  lay  the  unconscious  error 
of  his  system.  It  has  been  already  pointed  out 
that  Ferdinand  mistrnsted  tlie  Jesuits  ;  not 
only  on  account  of  their  leaning  to  political 
intrigue,  but  by  reason  of  the  very  capabilities 
in  educational  matters  he  now  professed  to 
admire.  Under  no  circumstances  would  he 
admit  a  member  of  the  confraternity  to  his  con- 
fidence, or  to  his  private  confessional.  The 
explanation  of  the  undoubted  mutation  of  the 
policy  of  his  earlier  years  when  contrasted  with 
that  followed  during  the  months  immediately 
preceding  his  death,  can  be  traced  to  two 
sources  :  the  influence  of  the  Queen,  increasing 
in  proportion  to  her  husband's  intellectual  and 
physical  decline  ;  and  the  bigotry  and  childish 
superstitions  to  which  he  became  subjected. 
These  would  appear  to  have  increased  with 
the  expansion  of  his  religious  fervor.  Nisco 
cites  many  examples,  most  noticeable  amongst 
which  was  the  King's  deadly  terror  of  the 
"  jettatura,"  or  evil  eye ;  a  peculiarity  he 
shared,  however,  with  millions  of  his  subjects. 
Did  it  happen  that  he  came  face  to  face  with 
a  monk,  or  a  lame,  bald  or  squinting  person, 
when  setting  out  on  a  journey,  the  dread  of 
pending  misfortune  kept  him  in  constant  ap- 
prehension. He  is  said  to  have  attributed  his 
illness  during  his  last  journey  to  the  Adriatic 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  101 

to  welcome  his  son's  wife,  to  the  encounter 
with  two  Cappucine  monks  as  the  carriage 
passed  out  of  the  gates  of  the  Palace  ;  while 
the  aggravation  of  his  sickness  was  caused,  he 
believed,  by  the  persistent  stare  of  a  bald  man 
in  the  cathedral  at  Brindisi. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Marriage  of  Crown  Prince.— Ceremonies  in  Munich  and  Trieste.— 
Ferdinand  starts  for  Adriatic  coast.— Incidents  of  the  jour- 
ney.— The  suspicious  illness  at  Ariano. — Accusations  against 
the  Bishop.— The  Court  reaches  Bari.— Arrival  of  Maria 
Sophia. — Her  meeting  with  Francis  and  members  of  his 
family.— Ferdinand's  illness  increases.— The  Count  of  Syra- 
cuse arrives. — The  return  to  Naples. — Alarming  news  from 
Turin. — Napoleon  III.  and  Victor  Emmanuel. — Opinions  of 
foreign  royalty  visiting  Naples.— Details  of  Ferdinand's 
last  days.— His  death. 

Disquieted  by  the  warlike  rumors  and  prep- 
arations in  the  north,  Ferdinand,  towards  the 
end  of  1858,  shook  off  his  political  lethargy  to 
the  extent  of  opening  negotiations  for  a  matri- 
monial alliance  for  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Cala- 
bria, later  Francis  II.  Policy,  as  well  as  incli- 
nation, pointed  to  the  advantages  to  be  secured 
by  strengthening  the  family  ties  which  already 
bound  him  to  the  Austrian  Court.  The  strug- 
gle against  the  ever  increasing  tide  of  Liberal- 
ism had  become  complicated  by  the  aspirations 
of  the  Murat  party,  to  which  color  was  given 
by  the  thinly  veiled  sympathies  of  Napoleon  III. 
A  matrimonial  alliance  which  would  bring  him 
into  closer  relationship  with  the  mighty  Haps- 
102 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  103 

bnrgs  might  at  least  serve  as  a  check  to  the 
latter  evil. 

With  these  objects  in  view  the  Neapolitan 
Minister  at  Munich  was  instructed  to  make 
proposals  for  the  hand  of  the  young  Princess 
Maria  Sophia,  daughter  of  Duke  Maximilian, 
of  Bavaria,  and  cousin  of  the  reigning  monarch. 
A  sister  of  the  beautiful  Elizabeth  who  had 
recently  become  Empress  of  Austria,  Sophia, 
although  not  endowed  with  the  marvellous  love- 
liness of  her  radiant  sister,  was  nevertheless  an 
exceedingly  handsome  and  charming  young 
woman,  while  the  subsequent  misfortunes  and 
cruel  humiliations  she  was  called  upon  to  sufEer 
gave  evidence  of  a  strength  of  character  amount- 
ing on  occasions  to  heroism.  Under  less  per- 
nicious influences,  even  in  spite  of  her  extreme 
youth  and  inexperience,  this  ardent  and  cour- 
ageous woman  might  have  done  much  to  avert 
the  disasters  which  overtook  the  Throne  she 
shared. 

The  inevitable  preliminary  negotiations 
having  been  satisfactorily  disposed  of,  and  the 
formal  demand  accepted,  the  marriage  by  pro- 
curation took  place  in  the  royal  palace  at 
Munich  on  the  evening  of  January  8,  1859. 
Prince  Luitpold  of  Bavaria  personified  the 
bridegroom  ;  the  King  of  Naples  being  repre- 
sented by  his  special  Ambassador,  Count  Lndolf . 


104  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

On  the  thirteenth  the  new  Duchess  of  Calabria 
set  forth  on  the  journey  to  her  future  home. 
At  Vienna  she  was  joined  by  her  sister  the 
Empress  of  Austria  who  accompanied  her  to 
Trieste,  where  the  final  ceremony  of  handing 
over  the  bride  to  the  royal  commissary,  charged 
to  escort  her  on  board  a  Neapolitan  frigate, 
was  to  take  place.  The  great  hall  of  the 
Palace  at  Trieste  was  for  this  occasion  divided 
by  a  line  simulating  the  demarcation  of  the 
frontiers  of  the  two  States,  Bavaria  and  Naples. 
On  the  Neapolitan  side  stood  the  Duke  of 
Serracapriola,  Ferdinand's  Commissary,  and 
the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  Court  of  the 
new  Princess ;  on  Bavarian  territory  the  com- 
missary of  King  Maximilian,  Count  de  Kech- 
berg,  the  ladies  of  honor  of  the  Princess,  and 
the  civil  and  military  authorities,  awaited  the 
entrance  of  the  bride.  "When  Maria  Sophia 
appeared  the  respective  Commissaries,  and  their 
suites,  advanced  to  the  line  of  demarcation, 
and  formally  exchanged  their  credentials. 
Count  Rechberg  having  bid  the  Princess  an  of- 
ficial adieu,  advanced  with  her  to  the  dividing 
line,  and  handed  her  over  to  the  Duke  of  Ser- 
racapriola. Once  within  Neapolitan  territory 
the  bride  received  the  homages  of  her  new 
Court,  and  of  the  admiral  and  officers  of  the 
squadron  which  was  to  accompany  her  to  Bah, 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  105 

where  her  husband  was  awaiting  her.  On  the 
conclusion  of  this  interesting  ceremony  Maria 
Sophia,  attended  by  her  sister  the  Empress  and 
the  combined  courts,  proceeded  to  the  Neapoli- 
tan frigate  "  Fulminante,"  on  board  of  which 
the  private  farewell  greetings  with  the  members 
of  her  family  and  personal  friends  were  gone 
through. 

Meanwhile  Ferdinand  had  quitted  his  capital 
and  undertaken  the  journey  to  the  Adriatic 
coast  to  attend  the  ofl&cial  welcome  and  recep- 
tion of  his  daughter-in-law.  The  Queen, 
Maria  Theresa,  an  Austrian  by  birth,  and  the 
bridegroom  with  his  half-brothers  and  sisters 
accompanied  the  Sovereigns,  who  were  attended 
by  a  numerous  suite  of  Court  dignitaries. 

The  original  plans  for  the  journey  had  been 
made  with  Manfredonia  as  the  port  where  the 
meeting  was  to  take  place.  This  town  was  to 
be  reached  by  a  circuitous  route  embracing  the 
cities  of  Taranto,  Lecce,  Brindisi  and  Bari, 
visited  under  the  impression  that  a  royal  so- 
journ would  do  much  to  cement  the  loyalty  of 
those  provinces.  Nothing  can  better  demon- 
strate the  mistrust  with  which  the  Sovereign 
looked  upon  his  liege  subjects  than  the  avoid- 
ance of  any  refreshment  at  the  hands  of  the 
provincial  and  municipal  dignitaries  within 
whose  jurisdiction  he  might  travel  or  seek  rest. 


106  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

All  food  or  refreshment  for  the  royal  table  was 
prepared  and  served  by  the  trusted  servants 
attached  to  his  person.  The  trip  began  under 
particularly  trying  circumstances :  the  cold 
was  intense,  and  deep  snow  made  the  roads  in 
the  mountainous  districts  well-nigh  impassable. 
On  several  occasions  the  danger  resulting  from 
the  ice-bound  condition  of  the  highways  made 
it  necessary  for  the  royal  travellers  to  descend 
from  their  heavy  coaches  and  traverse  consider 
able  distances  on  foot.  Extraordinary  precau- 
tions had  been  taken  for  the  safety  of  the  King, 
who  must  needs  travel  through  districts  infected 
with  brigands,  and  political  malcontents,  of 
every  condition.  On  the  evening  of  the  second 
day,  which  had  been  an  unusually  fatiguing 
one,  owing  to  the  steepness  and  abominable 
condition  of  the  roads,  the  cortege  arrived 
after  nightfall  at  Ariano.  Tired  out,  and  will- 
nigh  frozen,  Ferdinand  was  fain  to  accept  the 
hospitality  of  the  Bishop,  Mousignor  Michel 
Caputo,  and  to  sup  and  spend  the  night  at  the 
Episcopal  Palace.  It  would  appear  that  the 
political  convictions  of  Monsignor  Caputo  were 
not  altogether  above  suspicion  from  a  Bourbon's 
point  of  view.  Be  this  as  it  may,  all  authorities 
agree  in  dating  the  illness  which  was  to  carry 
the  Monarch  to  the  tomb  from  the  night 
passed  at  Ariano.     Shortly  after  the  King  had 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  107 

retired  for  the  night  his  faithful  body-servant, 
Galizia,  who  slept  in  an  adjoining  room,  was 
roused  by  a  violent  noise ;  and  on  rushing  into 
his  master's  presence  found  him,  with  his 
pistols  clutched  in  his  hands,  in  a  state  of 
great  excitement.  The  King  asserted  that  an 
assassin  was  concealed  in  the  chamber,  and 
insisted  on  four  sailors  of  his  guard,  together 
with  Galizia,  remaining  with  him.  The 
servant  declared  that  the  attempted  assassina- 
tion was  purely  imaginary,  and  that  he  found 
the  King  suffering  from  violent  fever,  attended 
with  pains  in  the  body,  and  more  particularly 
the  bones.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
still  suffering  considerably  the  King  insisted 
on  resuming  the  journey  next  morning  ;  yet 
notwithstanding  the  unavoidable  fatigue  no 
alarming  symptoms  became  manifest  until  after 
their  arrival  at  Lecce.  Although  at  the  time 
no  suspicions  were  aroused,  after  the  King's 
death  three  months  later,  the  wildest  rumors 
were  circulated.  It  was  then  currently  affirmed 
that  Monsignor  Caputo  had  poisoned  Ferdinand, 
and  the  fact  that  the  Bishop  ultimately 
became  officially  connected  with  Garibaldi 
lent  a  semblance  of  plausibility  to  such  asser- 
tions, which  the  adherents  to  the  Bourbon 
Dynasty  were  not  slow  to  seize  upon  as  ex- 
emplifying the  iniquity  of  their  political  foes. 


108  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

There  is  not,  however,  a  particle  of  evidence 
to  substantiate  so  monstrous  an  accnsation. 
The  probabilities  are  that  Ferdinand,  unaccus- 
tomed to  the  severe  exposure  he  had  under- 
gone, and  which  he  rashly  faced  the  day  after 
his  mysterious  sickness,  developed  the  seeds  of 
the  malady  which,  first  from  neglect,  and  later 
owing  to  inefficient  medical  treatment,  became 
complicated  by  pre-existent  disorders.  Certain 
it  is  that  on  his  arrival  at  Lecce  on  January 
14,  1859,  Ferdinand  became  so  ill  that  the 
Court  physicians  were  hastily  summoned  from 
Naples,  while  the  plans  for  the  journey  were 
so  altered  as  to  provide  for  the  reception  of  the 
bride  at  Bari,  instead  of  at  Manfredonia.  For 
over  a  fortnight  the  royal  patient  lay  grievously 
ill  at  Lecce ;  then,  a  slight  improvement 
having  manifested  itself,  the  Court  hurried  on 
to  Bari  which  was  reached  the  same  evening. 
Greatly  exhausted  by  the  unavoidable  fatigue 
of  the  rough  journey,  Ferdinand  with  difficulty 
mounted  the  stairs  leaning  heavily  on  the 
Queen  and  Doctor  Komaglia,  who  assisted  him 
to  his  bed. 

On  the  second  of  February,  the  "  Fulmi- 
nante,"  having  on  board  the  young  Duchess  and 
her  suite  arrived  off  Bari,  and  was  received 
with  great  ceremony  and  public  rejoicings. 
Ferdinand,  who  was  now  suffering  intensely 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES,  109 

from  inflammation  of  the  lower  intestines,  com- 
plicated by  an  internal  trouble  the  exact  nature 
of  which  the  doctors  failed  to  diagnose,  was 
unable  to  leave  his  bed  to  welcome  the  new 
member  of  his  family.  The  festivities  were 
consequently  limited  to  the  religious  service 
which  completed  the  interminable  nuptial  cere- 
monies the  young  Duchess  had  already  sub- 
mitted to,  and  which  was  performed  in  the 
great  gallery  of  the  Palace,  converted  for  the 
occasion  into  a  chapel.  * '  Memor,"  who  has 
preserved  for  us  a  most  minute  account  of  all 
the  circumstances  attending  the  last  months 
of  Ferdinand's  life,  in  relating  the  meeting  of 
the  Duke  of  Calabria  with  his  wife,  mentions 
the  fact  that  conversational  intercourse  be- 
tween the  bride  and  groom  was  rendered  some- 
what embarrassing  as  the  Duke  failed  to  un- 
derstand the  French  used  by  Maria  Sophia, 
and  comprehended  not  a  word  of  the  German 
she  addressed  to  his  stepmother.  The  King 
was  greatly  taken  by  the  charm  of  his 
daughter-in-law's  manner,  who  in  turn  recip- 
rocated his  affection  with  warm  sympathy. 

Meanwhile  Ferdinand's  condition  grew  stead- 
ily worse  and  his  sufferings  became  intolerable. 
Doctor  after  doctor  was  summoned,  but  as 
none  were  allowed  to  see  the  patient,  and  had 
to  content  themselves  with  the  diagnosis  which 


110  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Romaglia,  repeated  to  them,  their  services  were 
negative.  In  vain  was  the  King's  room  hnng 
with  the  pictures  of  all  the  most  celebrated 
Saints  of  the  Kingdom  ;  in  vain  did  the  pa- 
tient imbibe  waters  and  potions  to  which  mirac- 
ulous properties  were  attributed  ;  the  disease 
resisted  all  treatment,  physical  and  spiritual. 
Certain  symptoms  now  began  to  appear  which 
left  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  his  physicians 
that  a  surgical  operation  would  be  necessary. 
Romaglia,  having  discovered  the  existence  of 
pus,  became  greatly  alarmed,  and  declining  the 
responsibility  of  an  operation  in  a  small  pro- 
vincial town  such  as  Bari,  urged  an  immediate 
return  to  Naples  by  sea.  The  Neapolitans 
from  whom  Ferdinand's  condition  had  been 
concealed,  now  began  to  murmur  at  the  pro- 
longed absence  of  the  Court,  all  the  ceremonies 
attending  the  bride's  reception  being  over. 
Strange  rumors  were  circulated,  and  owing  to 
the  presence  at  Bari  of  the  Austrian  Archdukes 
Ranieri  and  William,  it  was  asserted  that  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance  with  Austria 
was  being  secretly  negotiated.  This  aroused 
the  Liberals  who  were  eagerly  anticipating  the 
armed  intervention  of  the  Emperor  of  the 
French  for  the  liberation  of  northern  Italy 
from  the  hated  Austrian  rule.  The  King's 
brother,  the  Count  of  Syracuse,  credited  with 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  HI 

liberal  sympathies  of  a  militant  order,  and 
who  never  ceased  to  urge  an  alliance  with 
Piedmont  and  an  understanding  with  the  Na- 
tionalists, posted  off  in  haste  to  Bari,  to  dissuade 
the  King  from  such  a  course  should  it  be  under 
contemplation.  The  news  of  the  landing  of 
the  political  prisoners  destined  for  America, 
and  of  their  enthusiastic  reception  by  the 
British  public  and  press,  had  created  consider- 
able excitement  in  Naples.  The  facts  were 
not  concealed  from  Ferdinand,  who  in  addition 
to  the  anger  he  felt,  and  weakened  by  suffering 
and  disease,  was  disinclined  to  return  to  Naples 
and  face  the  malicious  triumph  of  the  Liberals 
in  his  capital.  With  one  pretext  or  another 
the  departure  was  postponed  until  the  seventh 
of  March,  on  which  date  the  royal  family  em- 
barked on  the  "  Fulmiuante  "  and  set  out  for 
Naples.  A  fresh  examination  of  the  King, 
made  at  his  request  by  the  naval  surgeons  on 
board,  confirmed  the  existence  of  pus,  and 
counselled  an  immediate  operation.  To  this 
the  Queen  would  not  listen.  Palliatives  were 
resorted  to  and  the  journey  of  fifty  hours 
accomplished  without  undue  suffering.  A 
special  train  hurried  the  royal  party  from 
Naples  to  the  Palace  at  Caserta,  where  the 
acute  agony  of  the  unfortunate  Sovereign  was 
to  drag  on  for  long  weeks  to  come. 


112  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

In  spite  of  his  physical  sufferings  and  the 
knowledge  that  the  only  probable  release  was 
death,  and  that  at  no  distant  date,  Ferdinand 
continued  to  give  his  personal  attention  to  the 
affairs  of  State.  Carafa,  who  under  the  imme- 
diate supervision  of  the  King  discharged  the 
duties  of  chief  of  the  Bureau  for  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, assiduously  communicated  the  alarming 
despatches  received  from  Count  Antonini  dated 
from  Brussels,  where  he  had  established  him- 
self after  the  rupture  of  diplomatic  relations 
between  France  and  Naples,  for  the  purpose  of 
watching  the  progress  of  events.  The  news 
received  from  this  diplomatist,  as  well  as  from 
the  representative  at  Turin,  the  Chevalier  Ca- 
nofari,  left  little  doubt  of  the  intentions  of 
Napoleon  III.  and  Victor  Emmanuel.  The 
Congress,  proposed  by  Russia  and  nominally 
accepted  by  all  the  great  Powers,  which  was  to 
deal  with  the  Italian  question,  gave  a  momen- 
tary respite.  Few  believed  the  French  Em- 
peror to  be  sincere  in  his  professed  willingness 
to  refer  the  questions  at  issue  to  such  a  Con- 
gress ;  and  while  Ferdinand  still  preserved 
confidence  in  the  ability  of  Austria  to  maintain 
by  force  of  arms  the  "  statu  quo  "  in  Italy,  he 
could  not  but  be  impressed  by  the  gravity  of 
the  political  situation.  In  Piedmont,  and 
above  all  in  the  Liberal  and  Nationalist  prin- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  113 

ciples  prevailing  there,  he  recognized  the  direst 
foe  to  the  institutions  his  personal  influence 
had,  up  to  the  present,  been  able  to  force  upon 
his  subjects.  That  Cavour  was  a  party  to  the 
schemes  for  Italian  Federation  as  conceived  by 
Napoleon  III.  he  was  assured ;  but  to  what 
extent  the  Emperor  had  committed  himself  in 
connection  with  the  disposition  of  southern 
Italy  he  could  only  surmise.  Such  speculations 
were  not  of  a  nature  to  procure  repose  for  the 
King  who,  tortured  in  body,  and  keenly  aware 
of  his  approaching  dissolution,  was  forced  to 
passively  witness  the  transformation  of  the 
political  creeds  he  so  tenaciously  clung  to. 

The  visit  of  the  Eussian  Grand  Duke  Con- 
stantino, and  that  of  King  Frederick  William 
of  Prussia,  during  the  month  of  March,  bring- 
ing with  them  assurances  that  peace  would  not 
be  disturbed,  did  not  tranquillize  the  King, 
who  fully  appreciated  the  significance  of  the 
preparations  so  actively  carried  on  within 
the  dominiojis  of  his  cousin  of  Savoy.  And 
indeed  the  optimism  of  his  royal  guests  was 
rudely  shattered  before  they  had  shaken  the 
Neapolitan  dust  from  off  their  shoes.  On 
April  sixteenth  the  Austrian  ultimatum  calling 
upon  Piedmont  to  disarm  furnished  the  long- 
awaited  pretext,  and  its  indignant  refusal  ten 

days  later  swept  the  scheme  for  a  Congress,  as 
8 


114  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

proposed  by  Eussia,  into  the  limbo  of  diplo- 
matic absnrdities.  The  military  revolution  at 
Florence  of  April  27th,  resulted  in  the  ignomin- 
ious flight  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment of  Ricasoli.  Almost  simultaneously  the 
Duchies  of  Parma  and  Modena  freed  themselves 
of  their  rulers  ;  the  Papal  Legate  retired  from 
Bologna  ;  and  the  first  successes  of  the  French 
and  Sardinian  allies  gave  rise  to  the  wildest 
exultation  amongst  the  Liberals  of  Naples  in 
the  very  face  of  the  police,  who,  dazed  and 
almost  paralyzed  by  the  rapidly  shifting  events 
enacted  in  Upper  Italy,  seemed  utterly  inade- 
quate to  cope  with  the  added  responsibilities  thus 
bewilderingly  thrust  upon  them. 

Meanwhile  in  the  great  Palace  of  Caserta 
the  long-drawn  agony  of  the  Sovereign  was 
nearing  its  fatal  termination.  The  various 
doctors  called  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  the 
distracted  Ferdinand  were  powerless  to  arrest 
the  progress  of  general  decay.  The  purulent 
corruption  had  infected  the  entire  organism  of 
the  patient,  relentlessly  invading  external  and  in- 
ternal organs  :  the  lungs  became  congested,  and 
horrible  sores  broke  out  on  various  parts  of  the 
body.  Every  breath  was  agony :  every  move- 
ment an  indescribable  torture.  An  operation 
afforded  temporary  relief,  but   confirmed  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  115 

diagnosis,  and  convinced  the  physicians  that 
all  hope  must  be  abandoned.  The  King  spent 
much  of  his  time  in  prayer  :  Maria  Theresa, 
his  faithful  Consort,  on  her  knees  at  his  bed- 
side. Continual  recourse  was  had  to  so-called 
miracle-working  remedies  ;  and  as  at  Bari  the 
royal  bedchamber  was  littered  with  all  the 
accessories  of  superstitious  devotion ;  relics, 
images  of  the  Saints  and  Madonna,  holy  waters, 
or  the  fantastic  preparations  of  ecclesiastic 
quacks.  Although  the  King  had  lost  all  con- 
fidence in  the  power  of  doctors  to  aid  him, 
he  turned  with  simple  faith  to  each  new  image, 
each  holy  relic,  or  miraculous  picture,  for  the 
consolation  denied  him  by  human  science. 
Although  the  condition  of  the  King  was  an 
open  secret  in  Naples,  the  doctors  issued  no 
bulletin  until  April  12th,  in  deference  to  the  de- 
sire of  the  Queen,  who  feared  the  effect  the 
alarming  news  might  have  upon  the  hostile 
political  elements  in  the  Kingdom.  The  ad- 
ministration of  the  last  rites  of  the  Church  on 
this  day  made  further  concealment  of  the  pa- 
tient's desperate  condition  impossible.  In  sign 
of  sympathy  the  theatres  were  ordered  to  close 
their  doors,  public  entertainments  of  all  sorts 
being  forbidden. 

These  last  weeks  of  suffering  and  anxiety 
furnish  us  with  a  side  view  of  the  character  of 


116  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

the  extraordinary  man  who  for  twenty-nine 
years  swayed  the  destinies  of  the  Kingdom  of 
the  Two  Sicilies.  The  tyrant  whose  will  alone 
governed  eleven  millions  of  his  subjects  ;  the 
despot  who  had  unhesitatingly  condemned  hun- 
dreds of  the  brightest  intellects  of  his  realm  to 
death,  and  worse  than  death,  now  showed  a  touch- 
ing consideration  for  those  who  attended  him  in 
his  hour  of  need.  The  suspicion  that  the  point 
of  the  bayonet  with  which  he  had  been  wounded 
by  Milano  was  poisoned,  had  never  been  eradi- 
cated from  Ferdinand's  mind.  Shortly  before 
his  death  he  inquired  of  his  surgeon,  Oapone, 
if  there  were  any  suppuration  from  the  scar 
of  the  old  wound,  on  which,  since  the  attempted 
assassination,  he  had  always  worn  a  little  stone 
supposed  to  possess  miraculous  qualities.  Ca- 
pone  having  examined  the  scar,  assured  the 
King  that  the  wound  was  completely  healed, 
and  at  the  same  time  gave  vent  to  bitter  vitu- 
peration of  the  would-be  regicide.  Ferdinand 
gently  rebuked  this  outburst,  saying:  "I 
called  you  to  examine  the  wound,  not  to  judge 
the  crime.  God  has  judged  that ;  and  I  have 
pardoned  it ;  so  that  is  enough.'*  Yet  this 
apparent  softening  was  attended  by  no  cor- 
responding leniency  or  faltering  in  the  political 
course  he  had  so  relentlessly  pursued.  Cruel 
and  barbarous  this  had  undoubtedly  been  ;  but 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  117 

if  his  policy  was  shortsighted  and  bigoted,  it 
was  at  least  consistent.  Personal  ambitions  he 
had  none  ;  although  his  assumption  of  the  ex- 
clusive control  of  matters  of  State  is  liable  to 
be  construed  as  such.  Nevertheless  his  aspira- 
tions aimed  no  higher  than  handing  to  his  suc- 
cessor the  integral  inheritance  which  had  been 
his.  He  is  asserted  to  have  claimed,  only  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  that  the  Crown  of  Italy 
might  have  been  his,  could  he  have  reconciled 
his  conscience  to  the  necessary  spoliation  of  the 
various  Italian  Sovereigns.  This  it  may  be  per- 
mitted to  doubt ;  but  the  fact  remains  that  ter- 
ritorial aggrandizement  had  no  place  in  his  polit- 
ical programme.  When,  on  November  8, 1830, 
he  had  succeeded  his  father,  Francis  I.,  his  first 
official  proclamation  savored  of  an  aspersion  on 
the  policy  of  the  late  government.  "  We  do  not 
deny,"  he  said,  "  the  existence  of  profound  evils 
which  merit  redress,  and  that  our  people  look  to 
us  for  the  alleviation  of  the  burdens  which  a 
troublous  past  has  placed  upon  them."  The 
next  day  his  brother,  the  Count  of  Syracuse, 
was  appointed  Viceroy  of  Sicily,  and  the  Mar- 
quis delle  Favare,  whose  cruel  administration 
had  driven  the  islanders  to  desperation,  was 
given  twenty-four  hours*  notice  to  quit.  This 
action,  taken  in  conjnnction  with  his  own  past 
record,  and  the  reform  of  certain  administra- 


118  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

tive  abuses  which  had  long  oppressed  his  sub- 
jects, contributed  to  excite  the  wildest  enthu- 
siasm and  most  ardent  expectations.  But  those 
who  founded  their  hopes  on  the  liberal  effusions 
of  his  irresponsible  youth  were  doomed  to 
speedy  disappointment  once  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment were  well  within  his  grasp.  The  few 
half-hearted  reforms  granted  in  the  first  flush 
of  accession  to  power  had,  however,  merely 
whetted  the  appetites  of  the  Liberals  greedy 
for  more  extended  franchise,  and  Ferdinand 
soon  realized  that  this  path  must  inevitably 
lead  not  only  to  a  very  considerable  infringe- 
ment of  the  Absolutism  dear  to  his  Bourbon 
soul,  but  also  to  the  open  antagonism  of  Aus- 
tria, and,  be  it  noted,  the  disapproval  of  the 
King  of  Sardinia.  Thus  began  the  lifelong 
struggle  with  the  principles  with  which  as  Heir 
to  the  Throne  he  had  felt  some  latent  sympathy, 
but  for  which,  as  the  love  of  power  increased 
with  age,  he  conceived  a  loathing  which  blinded 
him  to  any  true  appreciation  of  the  spirit  of 
the  times  in  which  he  lived,  and  wrecked  the 
political  fabric  he  had  counted  on  a  quasi- 
Chinese  isolation  to  preserve. 

This  much  can  be  said  in  extenuation  of  the 
political  excesses  of  which  he  was  guilty.  Of 
the  charge  of  infamous  perjury  ;  and  the  ini- 
quitous juggling  with  the  sacred  vested  rights 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  119 

of  his  people,  nothing  can  absolve  him.  The 
ntter  disregard  of  all  humanitarian  obligations 
is  equalled,  if  not  surpassed,  by  the  ferocious 
treatment  of  the  patriots  of  the  Italian  provinces 
under  Austrian  rule  ;  but  martyrs  of  the  Spiel- 
berg revolted  against  a  power  which,  if  oppres- 
sive, was  at  least  legally  instituted,  while  the 
crime  attributed  to  their  unhappy  brethren  of 
Naples  was,  subsequent  to  the  concessions  of 
1848,  passionate  adherence  to  the  Chart  which 
had  been  freely  granted  them  under  sacred 
oath,  and  of  the  privileges  of  which,  through 
no  fault  of  their  own,  they  had  been  treach- 
erously deprived.  The  sequel  to  the  events  of 
the  fifteenth  of  May,  1848,  must  for  all  time 
brand  Ferdinand  the  Second  of  Naples  a  per- 
jured King,  and  a  traitor  to  the  liberties  he 
had  of  his  own  free  will  (as  he  explicitly  stated 
in  his  proclamation  announcing  the  Constitu- 
tion) accorded  his  subjects.  No  satisfactory 
explanation,  no  valid  claim  of  expediency,  can 
be  brought  forward  in  extenuation  of  the  accu- 
sation of  deliberate  and  conscious  fraud. 

On  his  death-bed  Ferdinand,  when  recom- 
mending his  soul  to  his  Creator,  added,  that 
he  craved  the  pardon  of  his  subjects,  both  as 
Sovereign  and  as  a  man,  for  his  wrongs  towards 
them.  When  taken  in  conjunction  with  his 
final  admonition  to  his  son  to  change  nothing 


120  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

in  the  policy  he  had  himself  pursued,  the  words 
quoted  can  hardly  be  construed  as  an  expres- 
sion of  regret  for  the  political  course  so  persist- 
ingly  and  relentlessly  pursued. 

Surrounded  by  his  family,  attended  to  the 
last  by  the  faithful  Maria  Theresa,  whose  con- 
stant devotion  during  the  many  weeks  of  sick- 
ness is  beyond  all  praise,  Ferdinand  passed 
away  a  little  after  midday  on  the  twenty-second 
of  May,  1859. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Expectations  of  a  change  of  policy.— Events  in  Northern  Italy. 
—Their  influences  on  Naples.— Accession  of  Francis  II.— 
Ferdinand's  second  marriage.— Education  of  Francis.— Life 
at  the  Neapolitan  Court  during  his  youth.— His  character 
and  early  training.— The  religious  influences.— Want  of 
political  training.— The  "  Camarilla  "  ;  its  composition  and 
objects.- Influence  of  the  Queen-Mother. — The  Count  of 
Syracuse.— His  surroundings  and  political  ambitions.— 
Palace  intrigues.— Conspiracy  in  favor  of  Count  of  Trani. 

With  the  death  of  Ferdinand  an  alleviation 
of  many  of  the  yexatious  and  antiquated  forms 
of  administration  was  confidently  looked  for  ; 
while  it  was  further  anticipated  by  the  more 
sanguine  that  reforms  more  in  accord  with  the 
altered  conditions  of  political  life  throughout 
Italy,  and  the  exigencies  of  international  public 
opinion,  would  be  granted. 

A  great  cry  of  relief  and  yearning  expectation 
went  up  from  the  exiles  in  Florence,  Turin, 
Genoa,  Paris,  and  London.  Hope,  long  crushed 
and  oft  deferred,  sprang  up  anew  in  the  breasts 
of  those  who  had  suffered  weary  years  of  banish- 
ment and  poverty.  Even  the  most  ferocious 
revolutionists,  the  Irredentists  themselves, 
paused  awhile  to  see  what  use  the  new  King 
121 


122  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

would  make  of  his  power.  The  opportunity 
was  a  golden  one  :  who  can  say,  had  it  been 
intelligently  employed,  what  the  consequences 
might  have  been  !  Those  personally  acquainted 
with  the  young  Sovereign  did  not,  however, 
entertain  illusions  concerning  the  cessation  of 
political  abuses ;  much  less  credit  the  rumors 
of  imminent  or  radical  reforms.  The  immense 
influence  of  the  Queen-Mother,  together  with 
the  opposition  and  jealousies  of  what  was  known 
as  the  "  Camarilla,"  or  Court  reactionary  clique, 
forbade  optimistic  surmises. 

The  last  moments  of  the  dying  Despot  had 
been  embittered  by  the  news  from  northern 
Italy.  Ferdinand  lived  just  long  enough  to 
know  of  the  success  of  the  allied  armies  of 
France  and  Sardinia  against  the  Austrians  at 
Montebello,  while  he  looked  in  vain  for  signs 
of  the  anticipated  intercession  of  Russia  and 
Prussia.  That  Ferdinand  realized  the  grave 
significance  of  the  political  events  of  the  last 
few  months  of  his  life  none  can  doubt.  But 
that  he  considered  them  of  a  nature  to  imperil 
his  Dynasty  seems  improbable  from  the  fact 
that  his  political  instructions  to  his  heir  con- 
tained no  suggestions  for  a  modification  of  the 
system  of  political  apathy  which  was  hurrying 
the  Crown  to  destruction.  There  was  time, 
even  now,  to  arrest  the  disintegration  :  and  had 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  128 

Ferdinand  urged  the  alliance  with  Sardinia  it 
is  conceivable  that  his  son  would  have  respected 
his  connsels  and  done  his  utmost  to  secure  the 
goodwill  of  an  already  powerful  neighbor,  in 
spite  of  the  emphatic  disapprobation  of  Pius  IX. 
As  has  been  intimated,  however,  Ferdinand 
trusted  more  to  the  geographical  conformation 
of  his  country,  and  to  the  buffer  afforded  by 
the  Papal  State  to  the  north,  than  to  shifting 
political  alliances.  In  spite  of  the  experiences 
of  1848,  when  he  had  entertained  the  fugitive 
Pope  at  Gaeta,  the  possibility  of  this  protective 
buffer-State  being  removed  seemed  to  him  as 
inconceivable  as  that  the  sea  which  surrounded 
the  other  portions  of  his  realm  should  evapo- 
rate. 

Francis  the  Second,  born  on  January  six- 
teenth, 1836,  was  just  over  twenty-three  years 
of  age  when  he  succeeded  his  father.  His 
mother,  Queen  Maria  Christina,  a  Princess  of 
the  House  of  Savoy,  had,  during  her  short 
career,  made  herself  generally  revered  and  be- 
loved. The  '*  Saint,**  as  she  was  styled  by  the 
impressionable  Neapolitans,  did  not  live  to 
watch  over  and  guide  her  son.  Barely  a  fort- 
night after  his  birth  she  died,  never  having 
recovered,  it  is  said,  from  the  effects  of  a  brutal 
jest  of  her  husband,  who  pulled  a  chair  from 
under    her    shortly    before  her  confinement. 


124  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

After  nine  months  of  widowhood  Ferdinand 
had  given  his  subjects  a  new  Queen  of  a  very 
different  stamp  in  the  person  of  Maria  Theresa 
of  Austria,  who,  for  reasons  rather  political 
than  personal,  he  had  preferred  to  the  Princess 
Maria  Christina  of  France,  a  daughter  of  Louis 
Philippe,  for  whose  hand  he  had  also  been  in 
treaty.  Diametrically  the  opposite  of  the 
lamented  "  Saint "  in  disposition,  character 
and  physique,  Maria  Theresa,  although  pos- 
sessing such  sterling  qualities  as  courage  and 
determination,  very  speedily  became  an  object 
of  distrust  and  aversion  to  the  subjects  she 
ruled  over.  Of  an  intensely  jealous  tempera- 
ment, descending  even  with  her  petty  sus- 
picions to  those  employed  in  menial  positions 
in  her  bedchamber  and  household,  she  elimi- 
nated all  social  element  from  her  husband's 
Court.  With  the  aspiration  to  govern  she 
rapidly  acquired  great  authority  and  influence 
over  her  husband,  while  she  completely  domi- 
nated her  step-son,  who  never  freed  himself 
from  this  baneful  subjection.  To  her  jealous- 
ies and  machinations,  rather  than  to  any 
organic  sloth  of  intellect,  can  be  traced  the 
deplorable  lack  of  education,  and  total  absence 
of  political  preparation  for  the  duties  he  must 
one  day  assume,  which  proved  so  disastrous  to 
his  reign.      During  Ferdinand's  lifetime,  and 


TEE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  125 

even  after  Francis  had  ascended  the  throne, 
she  constantly  conspired  against  him  in  favor 
of  her  own  son,  Louis  ;  yet  so  skilfully  were 
her  intrigues  woven,  and  so  complete  was  her 
ascendency  over  the  insipid  Francis,  that  she 
retained  her  influence  to  the  very  end.  In- 
tensely superstitious  and  bigoted  she  was  in- 
strumental in  greatly  increasing  the  power  and 
despotism  of  the  Clergy,  to  whose  bishops  were 
conceded  attributes  usually  allotted  to  the 
police. 

Life  at  the  Court  of  Naples  since  Francis 
had  been  of  an  age  to  participate  in  it  had  been 
neither  brilliant  nor  diverting.  After  1848, 
and  especially  after  the  attempted  assassination 
by  Milano,  the  Court  had  resided  as  little  as 
possible  in  Naples.  The  palace  of  Caserta  was 
the  favorite  residence  of  Ferdinand  and  his 
family,  although  annual  visits  were  made  to 
Gaeta,  especially  during  the  summer  months. 
Once  out  of  Naples,  the  family  life  differed 
very  little  from  that  of  any  well-to-do  Italian 
household.  The  King  hated  pomp  and  cere- 
mony of  all  kinds,  and  infinitely  preferred  the 
quiet  domestic  circle.  All  this  had  been  very 
different  in  the  early  years  of  his  married  life ; 
but  the  anxious  and  painful  experiences  of  1848 
would  seem  to  have  cast  a  gloom  over  his  whole 
nature.      In  place  of  the  pleasures  or  distrac- 


126  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

tions  of  a  Court  which  possessed  all  the  ele- 
ments for  social  brilliancy,  there  was  gradually 
developed  that  intense  absorption  in  State  busi- 
ness, to  its  minutest  details,  which  formed  one 
of  the  most  curious  characteristics  of  this  re- 
markable man.  Strange  to  say,  Ferdinand  at 
no  time  seemed  to  recognize  the  expediency 
of  initiating  his  son  into  the  mysteries  of  per- 
sonal government.  As  has  been  said,  the  edu- 
cation which  Francis  received  was  conspicu- 
ously insufficient  and  elementary  at  a  Court 
where  learning,  or  even  the  ordinary  accom- 
plishments or  pursuits  of  a  gentleman  were 
held  in  disdain.  Not  only  was  the  heir  to  the 
Throne  left  with  a  mind  absolutely  unculti- 
vated, and  unprepared  for  the  onerous  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  his  position,  but  he  was 
not  even  made  proficient  in  the  sports  or  pas- 
times of  royalty.  Ferdinand's  own  education 
had  been  extremely  imperfect ;  but  he  was  by 
nature  endowed  with  a  hard  common-sense ;  a 
shrewd  knowledge  of  men;  a  prodigious  memory; 
and  above  all  a  dose  of  self-assurance  sufficient  to 
compensate  in  no  small  degree  for  the  absence 
of  ordinary  book-learning.  Surrounded,  by 
preference,  with  men  of  very  ordinary  mental 
attainments,  his  natural  brilliancy,  combined 
with  a  certain  essentially  Neapolitan  "esprit," 
made  his    educational  shortcomings  the  less 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  127 

observable.  He  expressed  himself  most  easily 
in  the  Neapolitan  dialect,  as  also  in  the  Sicil- 
ian idiom ;  but  his  Italian  was  pure,  if  not 
eloquent,  while  his  French  was  fluent  and 
graceful.  In  Ferdinand,  the  king  and  the  man 
were  widely  separated  and  distinct.  If  as  a 
Sovereign  little  can  be  advanced  in  his  favor, 
as  a  man,  as  a  husband,  and  as  a  father,  no 
criticism  would  be  justifiable.  Seated  at  his 
family  table,  loaded  with  the  maccheroni  and 
plebeian  national  dishes,  the  predilection  for 
which  he  shared  with  the  meanest  of  his  sub- 
jects, the  dreaded  Monarch  appeared  the  most 
benign  and  guileless  of  men.  The  family  circle 
was  a  large  one,  for  Maria  Theresa  had  had 
nine  children  of  her  own,  and  the  visits  of  re- 
lations from  Tuscany  or  Austria  were  frequent. 
Each  child  had  its  diminutive,  or  pet  name, 
and  by  such  was  invariably  addressed  by  the 
King.  A  not  uncommon  sight  in  the  environs 
of  Caserta  was  a  huge  wagonette,  driven  by  the 
King  himself,  and  filled  with  children  of  all 
ages. 

If  the  lay-education  which  Francis  received 
was  meagre,  it  may  be  added  that  his  religious 
instruction  could  have  fitted  him  for  the  priest- 
hood. Exceedingly  timid  and  retiring  by 
nature,  the  conditions  prevailing  at  his  father's 
Court,  and  especially  the  treatment  he  received 


128  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

at  the  hands  of  his  stepmother,  were  not  calcu- 
lated to  inspire  self-assurance.  Dominated  by 
his  social  surroundings,  he  became  the  more 
readily  subjected  to  fanatical  religious  influ- 
ences. Unfortunately  religion  was  synonymous 
with  superstition  of  the  most  gross  and  degrad- 
ing character  at  the  Neapolitan  Court.  One 
of  the  principal  duties  of  the  troops  garrisoned 
in  Naples  was  to  swell  the  constant  religious 
processions  to  the  various  miracle-working 
shrines  for  miles  around  the  capital :  which 
functions  were  devoutly  attended  by  the  King 
and  his  household.  Ferdinand  had  caused  the 
church  bells  to  be  melted  down  for  cannon  in 
1848  :  ten  years  later  the  defences  of  the  country 
were  remodelled  for  ecclesiastical  purposes.  Yet 
in  spite  of  the  most  minute  observance  of  trivial 
rites,  and  notwithstanding  the  haunting  super- 
stitions to  which  he  was  a  prey,  Ferdinand  never 
permitted  the  increased  political  power  of  the 
prelates,  whose  hands  he  reverently  kissed,  to 
degenerate  into  license.  He  was  the  Master  : 
and  although  advantage  might  be  taken  of  his 
subjects  by  those  he  placed  in  authority  over 
them,  he  personally  insisted  on  implicit  obe- 
dience and  subservience  in  matters  clerical  as 
well  as  secular.  Even  his  dealings  with  the 
Pope  were  conducted  on  a  strictly  business 
basis,  and  no  favor  shown.     "While  this  was 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  129 

possible  to  a  natnre  which  combined  strength 
of  will  and  obstinacy  of  purpose,  with  craft, 
and  no  mean  intelligence,  it  stood  to  reason 
that  the  yielding,  vacillating  and  unformed 
character  of  his  son  must  be  as  wax  to  the 
influences  which  surrounded  him.  And  so  it 
was,  for  after  his  father's  death  we  find  Francis 
ever  the  dupe  and  tool  of  interested  and  unscru- 
pulous advisers  ;  swayed  this  way  and  that  by 
the  conflicting  factions  in  Palace  or  Council 
Chamber  :  to-day  completely  dominated  by  the 
Queen  Mother  ;  to-morrow  convinced  by  the 
persuasive  arguments  of  Liborio  Romano  ;  only 
to  hark  back  again  to  the  obsolete  pretensions  of 
the  **  Camarilla."  The  antithesis  of  his  father, 
Francis  had  not  even  "  les  qualites  de  ses  de- 
fauts'*  to  redeem  him  from  insignificance. 
Like  Charles  the  First  of  England  and  Louis 
XVI.  of  France,  it  is  by  virtue  of  his  misfortunes 
that  he  will  live  in  history.  His  tutors  in  child- 
hood were  General  Ferrari  and  Admiral  Spina, 
the  latter  sleeping  in  the  Prince's  room,  and 
being  charged  with  the  supervision  of  the  most 
trivial  occupations  of  his  daily  existence. 
With  the  exception  of  the  religious  works,  to 
which  his  reading  was  confined,  his  instruction, 
such  as  it  was,  was  carried  on  by  word  of  mouth, 
history  being  so  purged  that  accounts  of  revolu- 
tions, or  constitutional  liberties,  might  not 
9 


130  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

disturb  his  mind,  these  being  represented  to 
him  as  condemned  by  the  Church.  Later  we 
shall  find  him  gravely  warning  his  erring  sub- 
jects that  revolt  against  his  authority  consti- 
tutes revolt  against  God,  and  consequently 
entails  eternal  damnation.  Yet  when  driven 
to  bay  at  Gaeta  we  shall  have  to  record  acts 
closely  allied  to  heroism  ;  followed  by  a  dignified 
resignation  in  adversity,  which  demands  our 
respectful  sympathy.  The  Duke  of  Sperlinga, 
a  Sicilian  nobleman,  cites  a  dialogue  which  may 
be  taken  as  illustrative  of  the  theories  instilled 
into  the  mind  of  the  youthful  Prince.  Standing 
beside  Ferdinand  one  fete-day  and  looking  into 
the  great  square  before  the  Palace  thronged 
with  pleasure-seekers,  Francis  asked  his  father  : 
"  What  can  the  King  do  with  all  these  people  ?  " 
To  which  the  King  made  answer  :  "  He  has  the 
right  to  cut  their  heads  off  ;  but  he  doesn't  do 
it  out  of  respect  for  our  holy  Eeligion." 

Another  anecdote  descriptive  of  the  fatalism, 
or  mystical  resignation  of  the  young  King  is 
related  by  *'Memor."  During  a  conference 
with  the  director  of  the  Ministry  of  Finance, 
De  Liguro,  the  accidental  trembling  of  the  table 
at  which  they  were  seated  was  immediately 
interpreted  by  the  King  as  an  omen  that  his 
reign  would  be  short.  De  Liguro  remonstrated 
with  his  sovereign  for  allowing  such  thoughts 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  181 

to  haunt  his  mind  ;  but  Francis  sadly  replied  : 
*'  Dear  Sir ;  I  hold  neither  to  my  life,  nor  to 
my  throne,  because  I  remember  what  is  written  : 
*  Dominus  dedit,  Dominus  abstulit,'  and  I  say  : 
God  gives,  God  takes  away." 

By  the  '*  Camarilla,"  of  which  mention  has 
been  made,  is  Understood  that  party  in  the 
Court  circle  which  professed  the  principles  of  a 
pure  Absolutism,  and  was  consequently  irrecon- 
cilable to  any  concessions  of  a  liberal  or  consti- 
tutional nature.  The  Queen  Mother  was  con- 
spicuously the  leader  of  this  faction,  whose 
influence  with  the  new  King  was  not  unnaturally 
preponderant,  for  to  its  doctrines  most  of  the 
members  of  the  royal  family  also  adhered.  A 
notable  exception  was  the  Count  of  Syracuse, 
Francis'  uncle,  who  was,  and  had  for  some  time 
been,  in  open  sympathy  with  the  Liberals,  and 
the  Nationalist  cause.  It  is  certain  that  when 
the  Count  first  advised  his  nephew  concerning 
the  expediency  of  political  concessions,  urgently 
demanded  by  his  subjects,  and  counselled  an 
alliance  with  Piedmont,  his  conviction  in  regard 
to  Liberalism  and  Nationalism  went  no  further 
than  Louis  Napoleon's  "  Italy  for  the  Italians," 
and  embraced  no  scheme  for  national  unity. 
In  a  note  dated  May  11,  1859,  and  conse- 
quently before  Ferdinand's  death.  Count 
Gropello,  Charg6'  d' Affaires  of  the  Sardinian 


132  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Legation  at  Naples,  advised  his  Government 
that  the  King's  brother  was  in  favor  of  such 
an  alliance  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  Italy 
from  foreign  rule.  Cavour  at  this  period 
strongly  advocated  such  a  course,  fully  appre- 
ciating the  advisability  of  the  two  greatest  Ital- 
ian powers  being  at  one  on  this  point.  His 
agents  therefore  had  special  instructions  to 
cultivate  intimate  relations  with  the  Count  of 
Syracuse,  and  through  this  Prince  attempt  to 
influence  the  King.  The  house  of  the  Count  of 
Syracuse  was  notoriously  the  political  "  rendez- 
vous" of  men  of  professed  Liberal  tendencies  ; 
and  as  such  was  closely  watched  by  the  police. 
Ferdinand  called  his  brother's  salon  "the 
antechamber  of  Hell,"  in  allusion  not  only  to 
the  political  plots  hatched  therein,  but  also  to 
the  not  always  strictly  immaculate  moral 
character  of  its  frequenters.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  was  one  of  the  rare  Neapolitan  houses 
where  artists  and  literary  men  were  received  on 
their  intellectual  merits  ;  and  where  diplomatic 
representatives  of  foreign  powers  congregated 
for  the  interchange  of  the  political  news  of  the 
day.  By  rabid  advocates  of  the  Bourbon 
regime  the  Count  of  Syracuse  has  been  termed 
a  traitor  to  his  family  ;  an  accusation  substan- 
tiated in  the  minds  of  many  by  his  subsequent 
conduct.     Yet    prior    to    Garibaldi's   Sicilian 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  133 

incursion,  the  Count  certainly  nourished  no 
more  extended  projects  of  reform  than  those 
which  have  been  already  mentioned.  That  he 
should  be  hated  and  distrusted  at  Court  was 
not  to  be  wondered  at  :  nor  can  we  feel  surprise 
that  Maria  Theresa  should  have  done  all  in  her 
power  to  destroy  his  influence  with  his  nephew, 
and  to  poison  the  King's  mind,  through  the 
medium  of  his  confessor,  with  insinuations  that 
the  Count  aspired  to  the  Regency.  In  reality 
his  supposed  influence  amounted  to  little  or 
nothing  with  Francis,  although  owing  to  his 
high  position  at  Court,  and  to  his  noted 
sympathies,  he  was  appealed  to,  flattered  and 
cajoled,  by  those  who  possessed  the  confi- 
dence of  the  steadily  growing  party  whose  polit- 
ical convictions  he  was  understood  to  share. 
Thus  he  became  a  very  monster  of  iniquity  in 
the  eyes  of  the  **  Camarilla,"  who  poured  out 
upon  him  the  vials  of  their  wrath ;  branding 
him  traitor,  and  tracing  to  his  machinations 
the  downfall  of  the  old  order.  This  odium  he 
shared  later  with  his  brother,  the  Count  of 
Aquila,  who  was  subsequently  banished  by 
Francis  for  lending  countenance  to  an  adminis- 
trative transaction,  open  to  the  interpretation 
of  treason ;  but  banished  with  such  tender 
solicitude  for  public  opinion,  that  his  disgrace 
was  adroitly  concealed  beneath  the  intimation 


184  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

of  the  advisability  of  his  acceptance  of  an 
important  political  mission  abroad. 

Nor  was  the  Palace  itself  free  from  intrigues 
to  dispossess  the  unfortunate  Francis,  and 
place  his  half-brother,  the  Count  of  Trani, 
upon  the  Throne.  Such  a  plan  was  currently 
reported  to  have  received  the  sanction  of  Maria 
Theresa  ;  and  one  or  two  insignificant  demon- 
strations in  favor  of  her  own  son  actually  took 
place  in  the  province  of  Bari.  Certain  incrim- 
inating documents  are  said,  by  ''  Memor,"  to 
have  been  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  King 
by  Filangieri.  Francis,  however,  on  being  in- 
formed of  the  nature  of  the  accusation,  threw 
the  papers  unopened  into  the  fire,  exclaiming 
with  touching  simplicity  to  his  Minister : 
*'  She  is  the  wife  of  my  father.*'  Be  this  as  it 
may,  there  is  no  trustworthy  evidence  of  the 
direct  participation  of  the  Queen  Mother  in 
any  of  these  intrigues,  which  may  be  safely 
attributed  to  the  over-zealous  adherents  of  the 
**  Camarilla."  Nevertheless  such  incidents, 
proving  as  they  did  the  existence  of  a  spirit  of 
rebellion  against  his  authority  amongst  those 
to  whom  he  would  most  naturally  turn  for  sup- 
port, could  not  but  increase  the  suspicious 
timidity  and  constitutional  lack  of  self-confi- 
dence of  the  young  King. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

An  envoy  from  Turin.— Proposals  for  alliance  between  Naples 
and  Piedmont.— French  and  Engiisti  diplomatic  relations 
are  resumed. — Royal  proclamation  eulogizing  Ferdinand — 
Filangieri  at  the  head  of  the  Government. — His  previous 
career. — Political  problems  confronting  him. — Count  Sal- 
mour's  mission.— Opposition  to  alliance.— Mazzini's 
schemes. — Action  of  Swiss  Government. — Revolt  of  Swiss 
Guard.— Massacre  of  same.— Swiss  regiments  disbanded.— 
Kossuth  on  situation  in  Naples. — Court  functions  and  eti- 
quette.—Abstention  of  aristocracy.- Their  sympathies  for 
Murat. 

The  accession  of  Francis  II.  furnished  the 
pretext  for  the  despatch,  in  accordance  with 
the  usages  of  diplomatic  courtesy,  of  a  special 
Ambassador  from  Turin,  who,  while  he  carried 
the  oflBcial  condolences  of  his  Sovereign  for  the 
recent  bereavement  of  the  Neapolitan  Court, 
was  in  addition  charged  by  Cavour  to  improve 
the  opportunity  afforded  for  a  mutual  political 
understanding.  Count  Salmour's  confidential 
instructions  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  nature  of 
Cavour's  preoccupations  at  this  date.  "  There 
are  sound  arguments,"  he  writes  on  May  27, 
1859,  "  for  the  belief  that  in  undertaking  the 
war  for  Italian  independence  Napoleon  III. 
entertains  no  dynastic  ambitions  ;  if,  however, 
135 


136  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

with  the  progress  of  events,  such  were  to  be 
developed,  an  alliance  between  the  two  Italian 
Powers  would  be  useful  as  a  check."  Cavour 
then  proceeds  to  state  that  the  Sardinian  Gov- 
ernment would  be  disposed  to  go  to  the  length 
of  a  compact,  reciprocally  guaranteeing  the 
inviolability  of  the  territories  of  the  two  realms, 
in  the  form  of  an  offensive  and  defensive  al- 
liance. At  the  same  time  he  urges  the  neces- 
sity of  inaugurating  the  new  reign  with  broad 
and  liberal  reforms,  which,  together  with  the 
prestige  acquired  by  a  league  with  Piedmont, 
could  not  fail  to  bear  good  fruit  at  home  and 
abroad. 

England  and  France  had  also  resumed  diplo- 
matic relations  with  Naples  on  the  death  of 
Ferdinand,  and  their  representatives  bore  in- 
structions which,  although  the  ends  to  be 
served  were  necessarily  divergent,  coincided 
in  the  main  with  the  views  entertained  by 
Sardinia,  and  laid  stress  on  the  advisability  of 
a  radical  departure  from  the  system  of  govern- 
ment so  persistently  adhered  to  by  the  young 
King's  predecessor.  The  British  Cabinet, 
which  looked  with  distrust  on  the  ascendency 
of  French  influence  brought  about  by  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Franco-Sardinian  arms,  was  inclined 
to  favor  the  preservation  of  the  Bourbon  Dyn- 
asty, provided  such  support  be  rendered  con- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  137 

sistent  with  the  nation's  unvarying  attitude  as 
the  advocate  of  Constitutional  liberties.  Russia 
and  Prussia  viewed  with  alarm  the  eventual 
destruction  of  the  treaties  of  1815,  and  the 
dangers  of  Napoleonic  supremacy  in  the  Penin- 
sula, should  the  upholders  of  Murat  be  trium- 
phant. Napoleon  III.  himself,  realizing  that 
the  sentiment  of  Europe  must  be  against  him 
in  such  an  attempt  to  emulate  the  Imperialism 
of  his  uncle,  and  desirous  of  preserving  the 
confidence  of  England,  instructed  his  Minister 
at  Naples  to  join  his  diplomatic  colleagues  in 
urging  Francis  to  recognize  the  altered  condi- 
tions of  the  political  arena,  by  spontaneously 
granting  his  subjects  the  desired  reforms. 
Such  an  understanding  was,  however,  su- 
premely distasteful  to  the  advanced  Liberals, 
who  looked  to  National  Unity,  and  to  that 
alone,  for  the  alleviation  of  the  existing  evils 
in  the  Peninsula.  Nor  was  such  a  solution 
any  more  acceptable  to  the  Republicans  of 
whom  Mazzini  was  then  still  the  revered  and 
magnetic  leader. 

Glancing  at  the  political  situation  in  Europe 
at  this  moment  (May  and  June,  1859),  it  seems 
incredible  that  Francis  and  his  advisers 
should  have  hesitated  to  adopt  a  course  so 
patently  indicated  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Throne.     Yet  Francis  hastened  his  fate  with 


138  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

the  committal  of  an  initial  error  which  could 
but  alienate  the  sympathies  of  well-wishers, 
and  destroy  the  prospects  of  substantial  sup- 
port either  at  home  or  abroad. 

In  a  proclamation  issued  almost  immediately 
after  the  funeral  ceremonies,  the  young  King 
lauded  to  the  skies  the  political  and  admin- 
istrative wisdom  of  his  father,  "that  great 
and  pious  Monarch  whose  virtues  could  never 
be  sufficiently  extolled,"  and  gave  it  to  be 
clearly  understood  that  no  modifications,  in  a 
Liberal  sense,  would  be  made  in  the  line  of 
policy  hitherto  pursued.  It  is  claimed  by 
apologists  of  the  Bourbon  Dynasty,  that  Francis 
had  indeed  contemplated  a  different  pro- 
gramme, and  that  he  actually  laid  before  his 
Ministers  on  the  occasion  of  their  first  meeting 
the  draft  of  a  proclamation  providing  for  the 
convocation  of  the  electoral  colleges ;  the 
special  conditions  under  which  his  august 
father  had  deemed  it  advisable  to  suspend  the 
Constitution  having,  in  his  estimation,  now 
ceased  to  exist.  Francis  is  represented,  by 
these  same  apologists,  as  reluctantly  yielding 
such  personal  inclinations  "  to  the  wider  expe- 
rience in  affairs  of  State  "  possessed  by  his  ad- 
visers, to  whom  such  a  course  was  distasteful, 
as  involving  the  disapproval  of  Austria.  There 
is  no  valid  historical  authority  for  such  asser- 


TEE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  139 

tions,  which  are,  moreover,  totally  at  variance 
with  the  irresolute  and  timid  character  of  the 
young  Sovereign. 

Acting  on  the  advice  of  his  father,  Francis, 
after  some  hesitation,  and  the  temporary  em- 
ployment of  Troja  as  chief  of  the  Government, 
called  to  his  councils  the  aged  General  Filan- 
gieri.  Prince  of  Satriano.  The  advantages  of 
a  wide  experience  were  certainly  not  lacking 
to  the  hoary  old  soldier,  when,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-five,  he  undertook  the  guidance  of  the 
destinies  of  a  discredited  and  tottering  Dynasty, 
surrounded  by  enemies  and  undermined  by  dis- 
sensions affecting  its  very  vitals.  Filangieri 
had  fought  at  Austerlitz,  and  upon  the  glorious 
fields  of  France,  Italy  and  Spain  ;  had  served 
Joseph  Bonaparte  in  Naples  and  in  Spain  ;  had 
been  aide-de-camp  to  Murat,  and  a  representa- 
tive of  his  diplomacy.  To  him  Ferdinand  owed 
the  reconquest  of  Sicily  in  1849  :  a  task  he 
had  undertaken  with  considerable  reluctance. 
Thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  progress  ; 
a  modem,  in  his  political  convictions  and  sym- 
pathies, he  was,  nevertheless,  devoted  to  the 
Bourbons,  and  loyal  to  his  oath — a  soldier's 
oath,  untainted  by  partisanship.  Unfortu- 
nately Filangieri  found  himself  surrounded  by 
colleagues  in  office  whose  influence  over  the 
King  completely  paralyzed  the  vigorous  initia- 


140  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

tive  he  realized  as  imperative  to  avert  a  catas- 
trophe. Hampered  on  all  sides  by  the  jealous 
bureaucracy  of  the  military  and  civil  adminis- 
trations, which  resented  any  interference  with 
abuses  which  had  with  long  immunity  come  to 
be  considered  as  privileges  ;  openly  antagonized 
by  the  Court  party,  headed  by  the  Queen 
Mother ;  and  without  possessing  the  real  con- 
fidence of  the  King  ;  it  is  hardly  surprising 
that  his  efforts  proved  powerless  to  cope  with 
the  complicated,  and  extremely  grave,  politi- 
cal problems  demanding  prompt  solution.  He 
did  indeed  induce  Francis  to  condone  the  sen- 
tences of  a  few  of  the  political  martyrs  who 
had  not  been  included  in  the  decrees  of  Decem- 
ber 27,  1858,  and  March  18,  1859  ;  but  they 
were  immediately  pestered  by  such  unbearable 
restrictions  and  vexations  that  a  voluntary  exile 
alone  remained  possible. 

Writing  a  few  months  later  (March  17, 
1860),  Lord  Malmesbury,  in  his  "  Memoirs  of 
an  Ex-Minister,"  says  :  "  Naples  is  in  a  dread- 
ful state.  The  tyranny  of  the  present  King  far 
exceeds  that  of  his  father,  and  the  exaspera- 
tion is  so  great  that  a  revolution  may  take  place 
at  any  moment.  But  events  in  the  north  of 
Italy  have  much  to  say  to  these  feelings,  and 
naturally  encourage  the  Neapolitans  to  imitate 
them." 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  141 

Filangieri  had  from  the  outset  realized  the 
vast  importance  of  the  events  taking  place  in 
the  north,  and  was  prepared  to  neutralize  their 
consequences  by  concessions  calculated  to  make 
comparisons  between  the  two  Governments  less 
invidious.  Consequently  he  would  gladly  have 
seen  his  Sovereign  lay  aside  the  injurious  adhe- 
rence to  his  father's  system  of  isolation,  and 
frankly  accept  the  proffered  friendship  of  Pied- 
mont. The  importance  attached  to  Count 
Salmour^s  mission,  and  the  sympathies  of  his 
subjects  therewith,  had  been  very  clearly  dem- 
onstrated to  Francis  through  the  public  recep- 
tion offered  the  Sardinian  Envoy  on  his  arrival 
at  Naples.  On  the  evening  of  his  advent  many 
thousands  of  cards  were  left  at  his  hotel,  while 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  crowds  which  thronged 
the  adjacent  thoroughfares  broke  all  bounds 
in  its  wild  exultation.  Several  arrests  were 
made,  but  the  weakness  and  indecision  of  the 
Government  were  manifest.  Count  Salmour's 
oflEicial  reception  was  courteous,  but  every  effort 
was  made  to  deprive  it  of  the  significance  attrib- 
uted to  it  by  the  public.  In  order  to  avoid  a 
monster  demonstration,  said  to  be  in  prepara- 
tion, to  greet  the  diplomat  on  the  occasion  of 
his  visit  of  ceremony  to  the  Palace  of  Capodi- 
monte,  Francis  decided  to  meet  his  guest  in 
Naples.     Filangieri  and  Francis  himself  were 


142  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

deeply  impressed  by  the  proposals  formulated 
by  the  Sardinian  Envoy.  Palestro  and  Magenta 
(June  4),  which  latter  battle  liberated  Lom- 
bardy,  had  considerably  shaken  the  confidence 
professed  by  the  Neapolitan  Court  as  to  the 
ultimate  success  of  the  arms  of  the  Dual  Mon- 
archy, and  Francis  showed  signs  of  wavering. 
The  news  of  the  victory  of  Magenta  had  called 
forth  an  imposing  demonstration  at  Naples, 
and  undoubtedly  suggested  the  substitution  of 
Filangieri  for  Troja  in  the  direction  of  affairs ; 
which  substitution  might  well  be  considered  in 
the  light  of  a  concession.  With  the  arrival  of 
Count  Salmour  and  the  knowledge  of  his  fre- 
quent colloquies  with  General  Filangieri,  the 
rumor  spread  that  the  alliance  was  practically 
decided  upon.  To  defeat  this  end  one  of  the 
strangest,  most  incongruous,  and  withal  uncon- 
scious, coalitions  of  history  was  forced  into 
existence.  Fighting  for  diametrically  conflict- 
ing ends,  both  parties  united  with  the  sole 
object  of  rendering  impossible  the  conclusion 
of  the  obnoxious  alliance.  On  the  one  hand 
the  Queen  Mother,  the  Princes  of  the  Blood, 
the  Court  party  and  the  powerful  "  Camarilla," 
contending  for  the  principles  of  Absolutism, 
and  an  alliance  with  Austria ;  on  the  other  the 
Unionists  at  all  costs,  who  saw  in  the  projected 
alliance  the  ruin,  or  at  least  the  indefinite 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  143 

postponement,  of  their  cherished  hopes.  By 
the  former  irresistible  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  on  the  unhappy  Francis,  whose  character- 
istic vacillation  and  suspicious  timidity  made 
him  an  easy  prey,  and  who,  thoroughly  terri- 
fied by  the  dread  consequences  conjured  up  by 
the  "  Camarilla,"  allowed  the  golden  oppor- 
tunity to  slip  through  his  fingers.  By  the 
Unionists,  and  the  whole  swarm  of  revolution- 
ary exiles  congregated  at  Turin,  Cavour  was 
overwhelmed  with  bitter  denunciation  for  the 
attempted  abandonment  of  a  policy  they  had 
been  led  to  believe  he  vigorously  advocated. 

Before  war  had  broken  out  between  the 
Franco-Sardinian  allies  and  Austria,  and  while 
European  diplomacy  was  still  frantically  striv- 
ing to  avert  the  threatened  crisis.  Lord  Lof  tus. 
Her  Majesty's  Ambassador  at  Vienna,  in  an  in- 
terview with  M.  de  Buol,  had  endeavored  to 
persuade  the  Minister  of  the  paramount  neces- 
sity for  the  cessation  of  intervention  in  the 
affairs  of  such  Italian  States  as  were  not  under 
the  political  control  of  Austria — an  interven- 
tion which  could  only  encourage  warlike  sen- 
timent and  revolutionary  intrigues.  To  all 
such  arguments  Count  de  Buol  emphatically 
replied  :  *'  Do  you  suppose,  my  lord,  that  the 
option  of  peace  or  war  is  in  the  hands  of  the  vari- 
ous Governments  ?    It  is  in  the  hands  of  the 


144  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Mazzinians,  in  the  nets  of  whom  England  her- 
self is  taken  ;  without  knowing  it,  she  is  play- 
ing the  game  of  the  revolutionary  party." 

How  far  this  was  literally  true  it  is  impossible 
to  say  ;  certain  it  is,  however,  that  in  the  pres- 
ent instance  the  Mazzinians,  in  conjunction 
with  the  Liberals,  were  able  to  secure  the  co- 
operation of  one  neutral  State  to  the  limited 
extent  deemed  necessary  for  the  furtherance 
of  their  objects  ;  a  co-operation  perfectly  legit- 
imate, however,  and  in  absolute  harmony  with 
the  Liberalist  theories  officially  in  practice 
within  its  territory.  Yielding  to  the  represen- 
tations of  the  revolutionary  commission  which 
had  been  despatched  to  Berne,  the  Swiss  Con- 
federation requested  of  the  Neapolitan  Govern- 
ment that  the  title  of  Swiss  Guards  be  with- 
drawn from  the  mercenary  regiments  in  its 
pay  ;  at  the  same  time  forbidding  the  further 
use  of  the  Cantonal  arms  which  had  ornamented 
their  banners  since  1829.  Major  Latour,  who 
was  sent  from  Switzerland  with  these  instruc- 
tions, received  the  moral  support,  not  only  of  the 
French  and  English  Ministers  at  Naples,  but 
also  the  native  officers,  who  looked  on  the  exist- 
ence of  the  privileged  Swiss  regiments  as  a  slur 
put  upon  their  loyalty  and  valor.  The  mer- 
cenaries were  readily  persuaded  by  interested 
parties  that  the  decision  of  the  Confederation 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  145 

implied,  not  only  the  loss  of  their  ancient  priv- 
ileges, but  even  the  forfeiture  of  their  rights 
as  citizens  of  the  Kepublic. 

This  proved  a  sufficient  incentive  for  insur- 
rection. On  the  evening  of  June  seventh,  a 
company  of  the  Second  Kegiment  (there  were 
four  in  all)  mutinied,  and  reinforced  by  their 
infuriated  comrades  in  the  various  barracks, 
seized  their  banners,  and  killing  or  wounding 
such  of  their  oflEicers  as  attempted  to  impede 
or  restrain  them,  marched  forth  with  beating 
drums  and  wild  cries  towards  the  Palace  of 
Capodimonte.  The  noisy  charge  in  the  semi- 
darkness  through  the  silent  streets,  accom- 
panied by  reports  of  guns  fired  at  random,  and 
the  din  of  hoarse  voices  vociferating  in  an  un- 
known tongue,  struck  terror  into  the  souls  of 
the  Neapolitans,  who  but  vaguely  realized  that 
a  military  revolt  was  in  progress.  Kumors  of 
the  disturbance  were  carried  to  the  Palace,  but 
it  was  only  when  the  mutineers  reached  the 
gates  that  the  full  import  of  the  insurrection 
was  understood.  The  portals  were  hastily 
closed,  while  Rear- Admiral  Del  Re,  who  was  in 
command  of  the  scant  guard,  prepared  for  the 
defence.  Although  it  was  about  midnight  the 
mutineers  demanded  to  see  the  King,  and  in- 
sisted that  their  nationality  as  well  as  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Cantonal  arms  on  their  banners 


146  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

be  guaranteed  them.  The  terror  and  confu- 
sion in  the  Palace  was  indescribable.  The 
Queen  Mother,  who  had  been  informed  that  a 
military  revolt  had  broken  out,  quietly  advised 
that  the  Swiss  regiments  be  sent  for  ;  but  when 
told  it  was  they  who  mutinied,  turned  pale  and 
prepared  for  flight.  It  was  believed  that  all 
four  regiments  had  revolted,  and  that  their  ob- 
ject was  to  take  the  royal  family  prisoners.  As 
there  were  no  officers,  or  chiefs,  a  parley  was 
difficult ;  especially  as  the  thousand  or  more 
fully  armed  men  were  in  a  state  of  the  wildest 
excitement.  Francis  sent  Admiral  Del  Re,  ac- 
companied by  several  officers  of  his  household, 
to  attempt  to  calm  the  men,  authorizing  him 
to  inform  the  soldiers  that,  being  favorably  dis- 
posed towards  them,  he  would  consider  their 
grievances,  and  meet  them  on  the  following 
morning  on  the  Parade  Ground. 

Mollified  by  the  royal  assurances,  the  noisy 
band  straggled  off  in  the  direction  of  Capodi- 
chino,  discharging  their  guns  in  the  air,  and 
looting  the  wine  shops  along  the  route. 

Meanwhile  Generals  Filangieri,  Lanza,  Garo- 
falo  and  Nunziante  were  devising  means  to 
smother  the  dangerous  outbreak  and  check  the 
possible  spread  of  an  insurrection  it  was  feared 
might  become  universal.  Early  next  morning 
the  mutineers  were  surrounded  where  they  had 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  147 

encamped,  and  shot  down  by  the  artillery  of 
the  Thirteenth  native  regiment  and  that  of 
their  compatriots  (the  Fourth)  which  had  re- 
mained loyal.  Eighty  were  killed  outright, 
about  two  hundred  wounded,  while  two  hun- 
dred sixty-two  were  taken  prisoners.  The  rest 
having  disbanded  escaped  to  the  outlying 
country.  The  impression  caused  by  this  mas- 
sacre was  tremendous  and  wide-spread.  Nun- 
ziante  was  accused  of  having  ordered  the  troops 
under  his  command  to  fire  without  giving  the 
insurgents  the  option  of  surrender.  This  as- 
sertion was  officially  contradicted,  and  would 
indeed  seem  too  barbarous  for  truth.  The  fact 
remains,  however,  that  out  of  the  attacking 
forces  but  two  soldiers  were  wounded ;  this 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  mutineers  were 
taken  completely  by  surprise. 

On  the  advice  of  Filangieri,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence of  the  incidents  described,  the  Swiss 
regiments  were  declared  disbanded,  thus  put- 
ting an  end  to  an  institution  which  had  enjoyed 
the  fullest  confidence  of  the  Throne  for  over 
thirty  years. 

That  the  disbanding  of  the  Swiss  Guards, 
rendered  inevitable  by  the  recent  disaster,  de- 
prived the  Crown  of  one  of  its  most  dreaded 
supports  was  universally  and  exultingly  recog- 
nized by  Liberals  and  revolutionists  of  every 


148  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

shade.  The  odium  of  the  fierce  carnage  on  the 
Parade  Ground  was  naturally  laid  at  the  door 
of  the  hated  Despot ;  although  that  Francis 
was  personally  to  blame  for  the  excessive  zeal 
of  Nunziante  was  not  seriously  credited  even 
by  his  foes.  The  opportunity  for  making  polit- 
ical capital  out  of  the  disgraceful  occurrence 
was,  however,  not  one  to  be  lost.  Undoubtedly 
had  Francis  been  c6nsulted"the  brutal  butchery 
of  an  unofficered  rabble  of  disgruntled  merce- 
naries would  never  have  been  allowed,  and  the 
incident  would  have  passed  unchallenged  by 
the  world,  or  at  most  have  excited  a  recrudes- 
cence of  protests  from  those  who  contended 
that  the  Throne  should  dispense  with  a  support 
so  derogatory  to  its  dignity. 

Shortly  after  the  disappointing  peace  of  Vil- 
lafranca,  Kossuth  in  a  political  memorandum, 
in  which  he  rapidly  reviews  the  situation  and  the 
possibilities  it  offers,  wrote  to  Count  Teleki  in 
reference  to  the  neutrality  of  the  King  of 
Naples  :  *  ''  Would  to  Heaven  that  he  moved  ! 
It  would  not  even  be  necessary  to  beat  him, 
because  the  mercenaries  being  abolished  the 
Neapolitan  army  within  a  fortnight  would  have 
Garibaldi  as  its  leader,  and  Italian  unity  would 
be  accomplished.     However,  this  intervention 

*  Chiala,  Politica  Segreta  di  Napoleone  III.  e  di 
Cavour. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  149 

of  the  Bourbon  does  not  seem  in  the  least 
probable." 

Others  besides  Kossuth  appreciated  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  revolt  of  the  seventh  of  June. 
Francis  had  no  more  confidence  than  his  father 
had  entertained  before  him  in  the  impeccable 
loyalty  of  the  Neapolitan  troops,  while  it  was 
speedily  made  manifest  to  him  that  he  indi- 
vidually was  completely  lacking  in  that  per- 
sonal prestige  which  had  compelled  unques- 
tioning, if  reluctant,  obedience  to  Ferdinand's 
authority.  The  loss  of  the  Swiss  regiments 
was  consequently  an  irreparable  one,  and  al- 
though an  effort  was  made  to  replace  them  by 
a  wholesale  importation  of  Bavarian  and  Aus- 
trian recruits,  the  defection  was  recognized  as 
a  serious  menace  to  an  authority  already  so 
deeply  undermined  by  conspiracies  extending 
to  the  domestic  hearth,  and  permeating  the 
family  circle  of  the  Sovereign. 

Nevertheless  the  extreme  youth  and  inex- 
perience of  the  Sovereigns  precluded  the  sup- 
position that  affairs  of  State,  however  weighty, 
should  completely  absorb  them.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  Francis  was  barely  twenty- 
three,  while  his  bride  had  but  just  passed  her 
eighteenth  birthday.  The  etiquette  of  Court 
mourning  had  enforced  a  period  of  seclusion 
and  abstinence,   which  had  now  come  to  aa 


160  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

end.  On  July  24  the  ceremonies  and  festivities 
attending  the  young  King's  accession  to  the 
Throne  were  inaugurated  with  a  State  visit  to 
the  shrine  of  San  Gennaro,  the  Patron  Saint  of 
Naples ;  when  the  miracle  of  the  liquefaction 
of  the  Saint's  blood  was  accomplished  with 
more  than  usual  promptitude,  and  duly  inter- 
preted as  a  propitious  omen  for  the  prosperity 
of  the  opening  reign.  Then  followed  the  sol- 
emn but  gorgeous  function  of  kissing  hands, 
which  was  carried  out  with  all  the  rigorous 
rules  of  the  etiquette  of  a  bygone  age.  For 
many  years  Court  pageants  of  any  description 
had  been  rare.  Ferdinand,  after  the  troubles 
of  1849,  had  withdrawn  more  and  more  to  the 
comparative  privacy  of  Caserta  and  Gaeta,  and 
dispensed  with  all  superfluous  official  recep- 
tions. Deeply  immersed  in  the  business  of 
government,  which,  as  has  been  described,  cen- 
tred in  his  hands,  and  to  the  most  minute  and 
trivial  details  of  which  he  gave  his  personal 
attention,  it  was  manifestly  impossible  to  be- 
stow much  time  on  display,  even  had  his  tastes 
lain  in  that  direction.  Had  Ferdinand  so  de- 
sired there  is  little  doubt  but  that  he  could,  in 
the  earlier  years  of  his  reign,  have  won  back  the 
Neapolitan  aristocracy,  as  a  class,  from  the 
isolation  to  which  they  had  been  self-con- 
demned since  the  Bourbon  restoration.    This 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  151 

isolation,  more  apparent  than  real,  had  been 
brought  about  by  the  reception  extended  to 
Joachim  Murat.  Ferdinand,  however,  deemed 
it  a  prudent  policy  to  hold  aloof  ;  believing  it 
expedient  to  foster  the  illusion  that,  dispensing 
vfith  the  support  of  the  aristocracy,  the  Crown 
rested  on  the  surer  foundation  of  the  popular 
suffrage  of  the  masses,  with  whom  it  was  thus 
brought  in  more  democratic  contact.  The 
reasoning  was  subtle,  if  fallacious,  and  gave 
rise  to  misconceptions  and  confusion  on  the 
part  of  leaders  of  the  Second  Empire  in  their 
intrigues  concerning  the  destinies  of  the  King- 
dom of  Naples.  Because  as  a  class  the  Nea- 
politan aristocracy  had  welcomed  Murat  in  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  it  did  not  follow  that 
Lucien  would  be  similarly  received  forty  odd 
years  later,  when  the  theory  of  national  inde- 
pendence, and,  above  all,  of  Italian  unity  under 
an  Italian  Prince,  had  become  a  burning  issue. 
That  great  discontent  existed  amongst  the  more 
enlightened  members  of  the  aristocracy  was 
evinced  by  the  popularity  of  the  Count  of 
Syracuse,  whose  open  hostility  to  the  Court 
made  his  salons  the  rendezvous  of  malcontents 
of  all  parties,  and  in  which  they  rubbed  shoul- 
ders with  Liberals  of  such  advanced  opinions 
that  they  closely  resembled  Kepublicans.  The 
fluctuating  importance  of  the  Neapolitan  '*  Mu- 


162  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

rattisti "  was,  however,  regulated  and  controlled 
by  the  rise  or  decline  of  French  influences  in 
the  Peninsula,  despite  the  undoubted  encour- 
agement the  movement  received  from  a  very 
restricted  circle  of  Italian  sympathizers.  The 
aristocracy  was,  however,  without  political 
training  or  aspirations,  and  as  completely  out 
of  touch  with  popular  sentiment  as  with  Court 
influence. 

With  the  accession  of  Francis  many  indi- 
vidual aristocratic  malcontents  returned  to 
their  allegiaiice,  or  at  least  took  advantage  of 
the  f  6tes  and  gaieties  to  appear  at  Court.  Nev- 
ertheless the  bulk  of  those  attending  the  gala 
performances  at  the  huge  San  Carlo  theatre,  or 
the  ceremonies  at  the  Palace,  belonged  to  the 
official  world,  the  few  exceptions  being  those 
whose  love  of  pleasure,  or  apathetic  lack  of 
political  convictions,  made  their  surroundings 
a  matter  of  indifference.  To  a  great  extent 
the  opposition  of  the  aristocracy  was  tradi- 
tional, having  its  origin  in  the  loss  of  certain 
privileges,  of  which  with  the  return  of  the 
Bourbons  they  had  been  deprived.  That  polit- 
ical prejudices  were  not  very  deep-rooted  is 
evinced  by  the  fact  that  many  who  would  have 
welcomed  a  Mnrat  accepted  Court  positions 
under  Victor  Emmanuel  ;  while  several  of 
those  who  had  occupied  high  posts  under  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  153 

Bourbons  were  equally  desirous  of  discharging 
similar  functions  in  connection  with  the  House 
of  Savoy.  This  is  not  only  true  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, but  applies  also  to  many  leading  Nea- 
politan statesmen,  as  well  as  army  and  navy 
officers  of  all  ranks,  and  lends  a  semblance  of 
troth  to  the  cry  of  "  Treason "  raised  by  the 
Absolutists  who  remained  staunch  to  their 
allegiance  to  the  fallen  Dynasty.  In  Sicily  this 
generalization  did  not  hold  good ;  many  of  the 
most  ancient  and  aristocratic  families  were  also 
foremost  in  their  intelligent  eagerness  for  the 
political  welfare  of  their  country.  In  1848  and 
1849  the  flower  of  the  nobility  fought  side  by 
side  with  the  representatives  of  the  humbler 
classes  for  the  freedom  of  the  island.  The 
Sicilians,  although  availing  themselves  of  every 
occasion  for  revolt  against  the  Bourbon  yoke, 
never  having  been  under  the  dominion  of 
Murat,  were  impervious  to  the  blandishments 
of  the  conspirators  who  sought  the  re-establish- 
ment of  Bonapartist  supremacy.  Given  a  Murat 
and  a  Francis  II.,  they  remained  Legitimists  by 
force  of  habit ;  but  when  a  third  alternative 
was  presented  in  the  person  of  the  ''Honest 
King  "  of  Savoy,  there  was  no  doubt  in  which 
direction  their  sympathies  lay. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Filaugieri's  political  sympathies.— Napoleon  HI. :  his  aims  and 
policy.— Cavour's  policy.— Plan  for  partition  of  Papal  States. 
— Count  Salmour's  failure,— Villafranca. — Cavour  resigns. 
-Rumors  from  Sicily.— Filangieri's  resignation.— His  re- 
tirement at  Sorrento.— Blimders  of  the  Administration.— 
Cavour  to  Marquis  d'Azeglio.— Lord  Palmerston  on  Ca- 
vour.— An  Italian  Confederation.— Napoleon's  embarrass- 
ments.—Sir  James  Hudson  and  his  associates.— English 
policy  in  Italian  question.— Opinions  of  Prince  Consort.— 
Diplomacy  at  Turin.— Marquis  Villamarina  goes  to  Naples. 
— His  instructions. — His  report  on  situation  at  Naples. 

The  glorious  adventures  and  triumphs  of  his 
youth  had  imbued  Filangieri  with  very  pro- 
nounced Bonapartist  sympathies.  As  a  veteran 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars  he  was  cosmopolitan, 
in  the  broadest  and  best  sense  of  the  word  ;  as 
a  politician  and  a  statesman  he  clearly  foresaw 
that  a  change  of  front  and  the  abandonment 
of  the  narrow  principles  of  the  internal  and 
foreign  policy  followed  by  Ferdinand,  could 
alone  save  the  Dynasty  and  insure  the  auton- 
omy of  the  Kingdom.  For  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  end  the  friendship  and  support  of 
the  Western  Powers,  especially  France,  was  of 

prime  importance.     It  needed  but  a  modicum 
154 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  155 

of  statesmanship  to  appreciate  the  fact  that 
the  interests  of  Napoleon  III.  could  profit 
neither  by  the  obliteration  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Naples  from  the  map  of  Europe,  nor  its  ab- 
sorption, under  the  pretext  of  suppressing  rev- 
olutionary anarchy,  in  the  all-devouring  maw 
of  Piedmont.  To  secure  the  support  of  Louis 
Napoleon,  deeply  committed  to  the  principle 
of  Italian  nationalization  (not  unity),  two  con- 
cessions were  imperative  :  the  total  and  un- 
conditional severance  from  Austrian  influences  ; 
and  the  immediate  grant,  or  revival,  of  a  Con- 
stitution framed  in  accordance  with  the  liberal 
theories  of  the  day.  General  Roguet,  sent  by 
Napoleon  III.  to  congratulate  Francis  on  his 
accession,  had  special  instructions  to  urge  the 
acceptance  of  this  programme,  and  was  ener- 
getically seconded  by  the  French  Minister  who 
had  returned  to  his  post  on  the  resumption  of 
diplomatic  relations. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  al- 
liance with  Piedmont,  which  Count  Cavour 
desired  not  only  as  a  protection  against  Aus- 
trian supremacy  but  also  as  a  check  to  Bona- 
partist  ambitions  in  Tuscany.  After  Magenta 
a  territorial  manipulation  involving  the  trans- 
formation of  the  political  geography  of  Italy 
was  suggested,  and  received,  it  is  said,  the 
sanction  of  Napoleon  III.  and  Lord  Palmerston. 


156  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Piedmont  was  to  be  allowed  to  annex  Lombardy, 
the  Duchies  and  the  Legations  as  far  south 
as  the  River  Cattolica  ;  while  to  the  King 
of  Naples  would  be  given  Umbria  and  the 
Marches.  The  Pope  would  thus  be  relegated 
to  the  so-called  Patrimony  of  Saint  Peter  ;  a 
dominion  considered  ample  for  the  exercise  of 
his  temporal  prerogatives. 

In  the  Council  of  Ministers  Filangieri  could 
count  on  no  majority  to  advance  his  proposals, 
and  he  was  fully  aware  of  the  insurmountable 
repugnance  Francis  would  oppose  to  any  pro- 
ject involving  a  rupture  of  friendly  relations 
with  the  Holy  See.  Tempting  as  was  the  bait 
offered,  and  thoroughly  convinced  as  he  was 
of  the  advantage  of  gaining  the  good-will  of 
his  powerful  accomplices,  Francis,  who  had 
been  prepared  by  Troja  for  the  proposed 
spoliation  of  the  Papal  dominions,  indignantly 
refused  to  become  a  party  to  so  "  sacrilegious  a 
scheme/'  and  promptly  reported  the  iniquitous 
proposal  to  Rome.  Bearing  in  mind  the  quasi- 
sacerdotal  education  Francis  had  received,  to- 
gether with  his  mysticism  and  the  apathetic 
fatalism  of  his  character,  it  is  difficult  to  un- 
derstand how  such  a  programme  could  ever 
have  been  expected  to  receive  his  support. 

The  rebuff  administered  to  Count  Salmour 
QJX  this  occasion  destroyed  all  probability  of 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  157 

his  success  in  the  negotiations  for  an  offensive 
and  defensive  alliance,  and  he  took  his  depart- 
ure amidst  the  enthusiastic  plaudits  of  the  ad- 
vanced Liberals  and  Unionists,  who  had  looked 
upon  the  possibility  of  such  an  alliance  with 
considerable  alarm. 

Meanwhile  portentous  events  were  rapidly 
succeeding  each  other  in  Northern  Italy.  The 
Legations  rose  in  rebellion  against  the  Papal 
authority,  and  the  Rulers  of  Parma  and 
Modena  were  deposed  by  their  subjects.  The 
provisional  Governments  of  Emilia  and  Tus- 
cany were  established,  and  the  unsatisfactory 
peace  of  Villafranca  had  driven  Cavour  from 
the  political  arena.  Wild  rumors  of  a  rev- 
olutionary invasion  of  the  Neapolitan  terri- 
tory by  Garibaldi  and  his  dreaded  hordes  began 
to  circulate,  while  vague  reports  of  Sicilian 
agitation  reached  the  capital.  Filangieri,  real- 
izing that  not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost,  boldly 
presented  to  Francis,  on  September  4th,  the 
draft  of  the  Constitution  prepared  by  Manna  ; 
making  its  acceptance  conditional  to  his  re- 
tention of  oflBce.  The  King,  timid  and  vacil- 
lating, fearing  to  risk  a  decision,  yet  harried 
by  the  threats  of  the  "  Camarilla,**  desired  a 
furthe:  postponement,  urging  the  peril  of  so 
radical  a  departure  from  the  conservatism  of 
his  father.     Whereupon  Filangieri  unhesitat- 


I5d  THB  COLLAPSE  OF 

ingly  presented  his  resignation  as  President  of 
the  Council  and  Minister  of  War.  Although 
Francis  did  not  unconditionally  accept  the 
tendered  resignation,  he  signified  his  willing- 
ness that  the  Minister  should  temporarily  seek 
a  much  required  rest,  replacing  him  provi- 
sionally with  Raffaele  Carrascosa,  and  nominat- 
ing one  of  Murat's  old  Lieutenants,  Gaetano 
Garofalo,  to  take  charge  of  the  War  Office. 

Filangieri  now  hetook  himself  to  the  seclu- 
sion of  his  villa  at  Sorrento,  over  the  door  of 
which  he  caused  the  following  placard  to  be 
affixed  :  * '  This  notice  denies  entrance  to  all ; 
for  it  is  either  a  proof  that  I  am  out,  or  that  I 
will  receive  nobody." 

Although  pleading  advanced  age  and  ill- 
health,  as  an  excuse  for  his  withdrawal  from 
active  participation  in  public  affairs,  it  is  prob- 
able that  Filangieri  at  first  contemplated  no 
more  than  a  voluntary  temporary  retirement, 
as  a  protest  against  the  rejection  of  the  policy 
of  reform  and  diplomatic  negotiation  he  advo- 
cated. Thoroughly  disheartened,  however,  by 
the  failure  of  his  plans  for  the  rescue  of  the 
Throne  from  the  perils  he  so  keenly  appreci- 
ated, as  well  as  by  the  continual  blunders  of  the 
Crown,  and  those  who  had  succeeded  him  in 
the  administration  of  affairs,  he  was  gradually 
led  to  the  conviction  that  it  would  be  impossi- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  159 

ble  to  retrieve  the  errors  committed,  and  there- 
fore continued  to  insist  that  he  should  be  re- 
lieved of  all  official  responsibility.  It  was  not 
until  March  16,  1860,  that  Francis,  yielding 
to  his  persistent  entreaties,  finally  and  formally 
exonerated  him  from  the  nominal  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  President  of  the  Council  and 
Minister  of  War. 

In  the  interval,  blunder  after  blunder  had 
still  further  estranged  the  sympathies  of  the 
nations  an  alliance  with  which  offered  the  only 
hope  of  salvation,  and  widened  the  gulf  be- 
tween the  Government  and  People  of  the  King- 
dom of  the  Two  Sicilies.  Aiossa,  a  man  whose 
ignorance  and  violence  were  proverbial,  had 
been  entrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  Police, 
and  had  forthwith  revived  the  excesses  and 
persecutions  which  had  signallized  the  reign  of 
Ferdinand.  The  **  Camarilla,'*  again  trium- 
phant, was  omnipotent  in  those  branches  of  the 
public  service  whose  agents  came  in  direct  con- 
tact with  the  citizen,  and  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence the  friction  and  mutual  animosity  daily 
increased. 

Not  satisfied  with  declining  the  friendly 
proposals  of  France,  England  and  Piedmont, 
Francis  had  excited  their  suspicious  resent- 
ment by  the  formation  of  a  military  camp  on 
the  frontiers  of  the  Papal  States  ;  and  by  allow- 


160  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

ing  it  to  be  surmised  that  the  establishment  of 
the  same  was  not  merely  intended  for  the  de- 
fence of  his  territory,  but  also  designed  as  an 
efficient  support  to  the  Pontifical  troops,  should 
the  latter  be  assailed.  This  army  corps,  which 
had  left  Naples  on  September  14,  1859,  un- 
der the  command  of  General  Pianell,  had  been 
preceded  by  profuse  assurances  of  filial  rever- 
ence for  his  Holiness,  which  were  universally 
interpreted  as  equivalent  to  an  avouchment 
of  eventual  co-operation  with  the  forces  of 
the  Holy  See.  The  Piedmontese  Government 
promptly  demanded  an  explanation  as  to  the 
scope  of  the  military  demonstration,  and  re- 
ceived in  reply  assurances  that  the  expedition 
was  intended  merely  to  insure  the  inviolability 
of  Neapolitan  territory  in  view  of  existing 
political  conditions.  Nevertheless,  and  in  spite 
of  this  plausible  explanation,  the  incident 
caused  considerable  annoyance,  for  it  was  gen- 
erally conceded  that  the  Neapolitan  Govern- 
ment was  not  sincere  in  its  protestations,  and 
that  the  troops  were  destined  for  a  very  dif- 
ferent service  should  occasion  present. 

The  Peace  of  Villafranca  had  apparently 
left  Austria  but  slightly  disabled.  With 
Venice,  the  fortresses  of  Peschiera,  Mantova, 
and  the  other  strongholds  of  the  Quadrilateral, 
she  could  still  strike  terror  to  Italian  hearts. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  161 

Austrian  influences  at  the  Vatican  were  also 
still  formidable  in  spite  of  recent  loss  of  pres- 
tige. Oavour's  resignation  at  Villafranca  had 
been  considered  as  a  national  calamity  by  the 
Liberals,  although  as  a  matter  of  fact,  owing 
to  his  more  complete  individual  liberty  of  ac- 
tion, the  Count  was  enabled  to  inspire  his  per- 
sonal agents  throughout  the  Peninsula  with 
greater  freedom  from  restraint  than  when  in 
office.  His  retirement  was  moreover  univer- 
sally recognized  as  temporary,  and  his  return 
to  power  merely  a  question  of  expediency.  In 
the  meantime  the  onus  of  reconciling  a  discon- 
tented public  opinion  to  the  unsatisfactory 
peace  negotiations  fell  upon  the  shoulders  of 
Rattazzi. 

In  announcing  his  retirement  to  the  Marquis 
d'Azelio,  Cavour  writes  on  July  16,  1859  : 
'*  Je  suis  la  b^te-noire  de  la  diplomate.  You 
have  been  able  to  convince  yourself  of  this 
during  your  last  visit  to  Paris.  Walewski  de- 
tests me  for  a  thousand  reasons,  and  above  all 
on  account  of  the  sarcasms  and  '  quodlibets '  we 
indulged  in  with  Clarendon  over  the  Treaty  of 
Paris.  Cowley  has  nervous  spasms  when  he 
sees  me.  I  think  I  would  cause  a  nightmare  to 
the  Austrian  Plenipotentiaries.  In  short,  I  am 
the  man  least  calculated  to  obtain  concessions 
from  the  diplomatists.     These  gentlemen  would 

IX 


162  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

refuse  to  the  man  what  they  might  perhaps 
grant  the  Country,  provided  it  were  represent- 
ed by  a  sympathetic  person." 

As  evinced  by  the  following  letter  from  Lord 
Palmerston  to  Lord  Cowley,  then  Ambassador  in 
Paris,  England  was  fully  prepared  for  the  inevi- 
table changes  in  the  political  geography  of  Italy. 
Writing  from  Loudon  under  date  of  August 
22,  1859,  the  English  Prime  Minister  says  : 
"I  know  that  all  the  partisans  of  arbitrary 
government  in  Europe  represent  me  as  the  bit- 
ter enemy  of  Austria,  and  I  wish  whenever  you 
hear  this  you  would  deny  its  truth.  I  am  an 
enemy  to  bad  government,  to  oppression  and 
tyranny  ;  and,  unfortunately,  the  Austrian 
rule  in  Italy,  as  elsewhere,  has  been  marked  by 
those  evils.  I  am  an  enemy,  therefore,  to  the 
bad  system  of  Austrian  Government,  and  heart- 
ily wish  all  Italians  to  be  freed  from  the  Aus- 
trian yoke.  .  .  .  Much  is  said  at  Paris  of  what 
are  called  the  intrigues  of  Cavour — unjustly,  I 
think.  If  it  is  meant  that  he  has  labored  for 
the  enlargement  of  Piedmont  and  the  freedom 
of  Italy  from  foreign  yoke,  and  from  Austrian 
rule,  he  will  in  history  be  called  a  patriot ;  but 
the  means  he  has  employed  may  be  good  or 
bad.  I  know  not  what  they  have  been  ;  but 
the  end  in  view  is,  I  am  sure,  the  good  of  Italy. 
The  people  of  the  Duchies  have  as  good  a  right 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  163 

to  change  their  rulers  as  the  people  of  Eng- 
land, France,  Belgium,  and  Sweden  ;  and  the 
annexation  of  the  Duchies  to  Piedmont  would 
be  an  unmixed  good  for  Italy,  and  for  France, 
and  for  Europe.  I  hope  Walewski  will  not  sway 
the  mind  of  the  Emperor  to  make  the  enslav- 
ing of  Italy  the  end  of  a  drama  which  opened 
with  the  declaration  :  '  Italy  free  from  the 
Alps  to  the  Adriatic,'  and  :  *  I'ltalie  rendue  A 
elle-m^me.'"* 

Villafranca  made  it  manifest  that  Italy  must 
work  out  her  own  salvation  ;  and  Italians  were 
in  no  mood  to  passively  await  the  adoption  of 
the  curtailed  programme  of  national  independ- 
ence laid  before  the  Congress  of  Ziirich.  In 
his  letter  of  October  20,  1859,  Napoleon  III. 
had  informed  Victor  Emmanuel  that  the  de- 
mand would  be  made  that  Parma  and  Piacenza 
be  reunited  to  Piedmont,  that  territory  being 
strategically  indispensable  to  it.  But  the  rule 
of  the  Duchess  of  Parma  was  merely  to  be 
transferred  to  Modena,  and  Tuscany  restored 
to  the  Grand-Duke  Ferdinand,  with  provision 
for  the  introduction  of  certain  liberal  reforms. 
According  to  the  ideas  of  the  Emperor,  as 
expressed  in  this  letter,  essential  conditions 
for  the  regeneration  of  Italy  necessitated  the 
composition  of  several  independent  States 
*  Ashley's  "  Life  of  Lord  Palmerston." 


164  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

united  by  a  federal  organization,  each  of  these 
States  being  free  to  adopt  its  own  Constitution 
and  reforms.  This  Confederation  would,  it 
was  asserted,  consecrate  the  principle  of  Italian 
nationality  ;  it  would,  moreover,  be  under  one 
flag,  one  Customs  regulation,  and  one  system 
of  coinage.  The  Central  Government  was  to 
be  in  Rome,  and  formed  of  representatives  from 
each  State,  under  the  Honorary  Presidency  of 
the  Pope.  No  mention  is  made  in  the  letter 
of  the  scheme  for  the  partial  spoliation  of  the 
Holy  See  to  the  mutual  advantage  of  Piedmont 
and  the  Two  Sicilies,  and  it  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand how  Napoleon  proposed  to  reconcile  this 
latter  scheme  with  the  political  necessity  of 
retaining  the  support  of  the  Catholic  voters  at 
home.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  Napoleon 
III.  had  as  little  faith  in  the  power  of  the  half- 
measures  propounded  for  the  consideration  of 
the  Congress  of  Zurich,  to  quench  the  danger- 
ous fires  he  had  fanned  into  flame,  as  he  had 
in  the  strength  of  the  colorless  Francis,  to 
withstand  the  fierce  opposition  of  the  clerical 
element  and  ''  Camarilla  "  to  a  political  venture 
so  at  variance  with  the  sacred  traditions  of  his 
Dynasty. 

The  Emperor's  enigmatic  ''  We  shall  now 
see  what  the  Italians  can  do  by  themselves," 
addressed  to  Victor  Emmanuel  at  Villafranca, 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  165 

was  almost  an  incentive  to  push  ahead  and  let 
consequences  take  care  of  themselves.  France 
must  temporarily  wash  her  hands  of  an  under- 
taking which  unforeseen  contingencies  on  the 
Ehine  frontier  had  dangerously  complicated ; 
but  the  fury  of  Italian  Liberals  to  whose  cause 
the  Emperor  was  personally  deeply  committed 
must  be  appeased  by  some  well-sounding,  yet 
not  too  substantial,  sop.  In  other  words.  Na- 
poleon found  himself  compelled  to  hedge  ;  and 
to  retrieve  his  lost  popularity  at  home,  while 
he  circumvented  the  baffled  Italians  by  the  aid 
of  a  diplomatic  paradox,  which  the  laws  of 
Probabilities  might  be  counted  upon  to  render 
innocuous.  Cavour  deeply  chagrined,  yet  real- 
izing the  futility  of  further  reliance  or  material 
aid  from  France,  readily  grasped  at  the  alter- 
native, appreciating  the  advantages  to  be  gained 
by  purely  Italian  initiative  in  a  question  of 
national  supremacy. 

The  rumor  that  Francis,  even  at  this  late 
date,  under  pressure  of  the  **  Camarilla,"  and 
released  from  the  nominal  restraint  of  the 
presence  of  Filangieri,  meditated  an  alliance 
with  the  Pope,  and  the  vanquished,  yet  still 
formidable,  Hapsburgs,  was  not  wholly  im- 
probable, and  justified  the  ruffled  susceptibil- 
ities of  Piedmont.  While  the  perplexities 
arising  out  of  the  projected  annexations  were 


166  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

rife,  Naples  must  be  closely  watched.  The 
strict  neutrality  of  the  Southern  Kingdom  was 
absolutely  essential  to  the  furtherance  of  north- 
ern ambitions.  Hence  the  uneasiness  evinced 
at  Turin  by  the  news  of  the  concentration  of 
Neapolitan  troops  on  the  Papal  frontier.  That 
Francis  only  required  to  be  given  enough  rope 
in  order  to  hang  himself  was  confidently  an- 
ticipated ;  but  the  consequences  of  the  sui- 
cide might  be  attended  by  considerable  risk  to 
those  who  had  too  complacently  furnished  the 
cord ;  while  it  was  especially  desired  to  avoid 
conflict  with  parties  whose  bonds  of  amity,  or 
mutual  interests,  would  give  countenance  to  a 
claim  in  the  disposal  of  the  deceased^s  estate. 

England  was  ready  enough  to  lend  a  hand 
surreptitiously  in  schemes  calculated  to  di- 
minish French  or  Austrian  prestige  in  the 
Neapolitan  and  Papal  States.  Sir  James  Hud- 
son, Her  Majesty's  Envoy  at  Turin,  personally 
a  warm  and  trusted  friend  of  Italy,  and  ad- 
vocate of  unity,  frequently  entertained  political 
exiles  from  various  Italian  States,  especially 
Mazzini.  Lord  Hubert  de  Burgh,  at  that  time 
(1859-60),  Secretary  of  the  English  Legation, 
jocosely  remarked  one  evening  to  his  French 
colleague  d'Ideville  :  "  I  have  just  dined  with 
Sir  James.  We  were  ten  at  table,  and  with 
the  exception  of  the  Minister  and  myself,  all 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  167 

were  under  sentence  of  death.  1  still  shud- 
der !  "  At  the  same  time  Her  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment was  not  prepared  at  that  period  to 
openly  antagonize  either  of  the  Powers  above 
mentioned  by  a  frank  and  explicit  declaration 
of  policy  in  regard  to  Italian  affairs.  Mr. 
Henry  Elliot,  the  English  Minister  at  the 
Neapolitan  Court,  had  received  general  instruc- 
tions to  urge  the  necessity  of  reforms,  and  to 
second  the  French  Envoy  in  his  endeavors  to 
obtain  such  ;  but  this  action  was  prompted 
rather  by  humanitarian  than  political  consid- 
erations. No  very  definite  line  of  policy  had 
been  established  by  either  Whig  or  Tory  Cab- 
inets with  regard  to  Italian  affairs,  beyond  the 
traditional,  although  spasmodic,  encourage- 
ment of  Liberalism,  or  rather  Constitutionalism, 
exacted  by  an  indignant  public  opinion  when- 
ever any  especially  virulent  outbreak  of  tyr- 
anny was  forced  into  notice  by  the  exiles  who 
made  London  their  headquarters.  The  moral 
support,  or  frown,  of  Great  Britain,  had,  how- 
ever, on  more  occasions  than  one  influenced 
the  destinies  of  Italy.  The  positive  veneration 
entertained  by  Count  Cavour  for  the  political 
institutions  of  England,  and  his  continued 
efforts  to  retain  the  sympathies  and  good-will 
of  her  leading  statesmen,  is  demonstrated  in 
his  private  correspondence  with  the   Sardinian 


168  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Minister  in  London,  the  Marquis  Massimo 
d'Azeglio.  Although  generally  admired  and 
esteemed  in  the  English  political  world,  Cavour 
never  succeeded  in  gaining  the  confidence  of 
Prince  Albert,  who  entertained  an  invincible 
mistrust  of  the  Italian  statesman.  "  This 
feeling,"  writes  Sir  Theodore  Martin  in  his 
Life  of  the  Prince  Consort,  **  seems  in  some 
degree  to  have  prevented  the  Prince  from 
making  full  allowance  for  the  difficulties  with 
which  Cavour  had  to  contend  in  accomplishing 
his  great  task.  It  would  in  all  probability 
have  been  altered  by  the  fuller  knowledge  of 
the  secret  history  of  the  time,  which  has  since 
become  available.  ..." 

The  political  bargain  of  Plombieres  by  which 
the  Princess  Clotilde  of  Savoy  was  given  in 
marriage  to  Prince  Jerome,  cousin  of  the  Em- 
peror, had  produced  a  deplorable  impression  at 
the  English  Court,  where  also  the  intrigues 
between  Cavour  and  Kossuth,  lending  counte- 
nance to  the  insurrections  plotted  in  Hungary, 
and  on  the  Danube,  were  viewed  with  suspicious 
aversion. 

In  spite  of  diplomatic  squabbles,  or  compro- 
mising incidents,  English  public  opinion  was 
almost  universally  in  sympathy  with  the  great 
Italian  Statesman  who  was  making  such  a  plucky 
fight,    against  what    appeared    overwhelming 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  169 

odds,  for  the  diffusion  of  the  Constitutional 
Liberties  so  dear  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  ;  and  was 
consequently  disinclined  to  pry  too  closely  into 
the  possibly  accessory  schemes  for  territorial 
aggrandizement,  which  so  troubled  foreign 
politicians. 

Critical  moments  there  certainly  were ;  while 
delicate  situations  not  infrequently  arose,  for 
the  satisfactory  solution  of  which  no  small 
credit  is  due  both  d'Azeglio  in  London,  and 
Sir  James  Hudson  at  Turin.  To  the  latter 
Nicomede  Bianchi  offers  a  well-merited  tribute 
in  his  "  Politique  du  Comte  de  Cavour  de  1852 
d.  1861."  "  It  will  certainly  not  be  superfluous," 
he  writes,  "  to  add  that  the  diplomatic  activity 
of  Sir  James  Hudson,  during  the  entire  period 
that  he  occupied  the  post  of  English  Minister 
near  King  Victor  Emmanuel,  was  to  Italy  of 
eminently  practical  utility.  Under  all  circum- 
stances, and  under  the  most  diflBcult  conditions, 
he  always  merited  the  esteem  and  confidence 
which  the  King,  and  the  most  Liberalist  of  his 
Ministers,  placed  in  him  ;  as  well  as  that  of 
the  most  influential  and  most  esteemed  chiefs 
of  the  Italian  National  Party." 

The  Chevalier  Canofari,  Neapolitan  Envoy 
to  Piedmont,  was  fully  aware  of  the  diplomatic 
influences,  and  Nationalist  ambitions,  at  work 
in  Turin,  ample  details  of  which  he  forwarded 


170  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

to  his  Government.  But  Filangieri  alone  rsad 
correctly  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  recognized 
the  urgency  of  concluding  the  proffered  friend- 
ship before  rapidly  shifting  interests  should 
make  it  advisable  for  Sardinia  to  dispense  with 
Italian  alliances.  From  his  solitary  retreat  at 
Sorrento  the  old  statesman  gazed  with  mourn- 
ful eyes  on  the  apathetic  indifference  and  be- 
sotted intolerance  which  were  hurrying  the 
Throne  to  destruction  ;  and  the  young  Sover- 
eign, he  would  so  willingly  have  saved,  to  exile. 
The  Government  of  Piedmont,  in  spite  of  the 
failure  of  Count  Salraonr's  mission,  could  not 
accept  the  refusal  as  final.  The  diplomacy  of 
Europe  seemed  at  this  moment  to  be  in  league 
against  Victor  Emmanuers  reaping  any  con- 
siderable material  advantages  from  the  late  war. 
It  is  true  the  populations  of  the  Duchies,  as 
well  as  of  the  Romagna  and  Marches,  clamored 
for  admission  into  the  fold  ;  but  the  Congress 
assembled  at  Zurich  had  under  consideration 
eventualities  which  Piedmont  could,  in  the  pres- 
ent crisis,  not  openly  ignore.  A  period  of 
uncertainty  must  be  tided  over — a  period 
fraught  with  dangerous  possibilities  ;  arising 
both  from  the  patriotic  zeal  of  the  victors,  and 
the  subtle  intrigue  of  disappointed  ambitions. 
As  an  offset  to  these,  as  well  as  offering  the 
surest  guarantee  against  further  foreign  inter- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  171 

vention  in  the  purely  domestic  affairs  of  Italy, 
the  Neapolitan  alliance  seemed  the  most  satis- 
factory solution  of  the  problem.  Once  such 
an  agreement  concluded  by  the  two  Great 
Powers  of  the  Peninsula,  the  details  of  the 
partition  and  distribution  of  the  minor  States 
might  form  the  subject  for  amicable  mutual 
negotiation.  Something  must  be  yielded  if 
aught  were  to  be  gained. 

With  this  end  in  view,  as  well  as  for  purposes 
of  trusty  observation,  it  was  decided  to  confide 
the  contemplated  negotiations  to  the  Marquis 
de  Villamarina.  The  diplomatic  experience 
and  personal  attributes  of  the  late  Sardinian 
Minister  to  Paris  designated  him  as  especially 
fitted  to  undertake  the  extremely  delicate  duties 
which  were  now  assigned  him.  Although 
originally  recalled  from  the  Imperial  Court  to 
superintend  the  reorganization  of  the  civil  ad- 
ministration of  Lombardy,  the  diplomatic  serv- 
ices now  required  of  him,  ungrateful  as  they 
must  have  appeared,  were  nevertheless  courage- 
ously, if  reluctantly,  undertaken.  That  the 
scope  of  the  mission,  organized  in  a  spirit  of 
loyal  amity,  and  for  the  attainment  of  recipro- 
cal advantages,  became  later  liable  to  the  accu- 
sation of  duplicity,  was  due  primarily  to  the 
inconceivable  shortsightedness  of  the  Bourbon 
Court.     The  relentless  pressure  of  political  com- 


172  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

binations,  unforeseen  a  few  months  previously, 
could  not  in  fairness  be  construed  as  a  reflec- 
tion on  the  good  faith  of  the  Marquis  de  Villa- 
marina  in  his  dealings  with  the  King  of  the 
Two  Sicilies.  In  his  documentary  History  of 
European  Diplomacy  in  Italy,  Nicomede  Bian- 
chi  cites  "  in  extenso  "  the  instructions  imparted 
to  Villamarina  by  General  Dabormida,  at  that 
moment  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  at  Turin. 
These  enjoined  on  the  Sardinian  Envoy  to  con- 
duct himself  with  dignity,  prudence  and  tact, 
in  his  relations  with  the  various  political  fac- 
tions. While  advocating  the  introduction  of 
liberal  reforms,  no  undue  pressure  was  to  be 
exercised,  and  no  interference  attempted  in 
the  domestic  affairs  of  the  State.  Neither  in- 
citing nor  restraining  either  political  party,  the 
Minister  should  use  his  influence  towards  foster- 
ing the  natural  and  spontaneous  development 
of  principles  more  in  accord  with  the  altered 
conditions  of  social  and  political  requirements, 
which  necessarily  affected  all  the  Princes  and 
all  the  States  of  Italy  ;  and  induce  the  Bour- 
bons to  calmly  and  patiently  accept  the  in- 
evitable modifications  of  government  demanded 
by  the  times.  All  this  was  to  be  accomplished 
without  social  disturbance  or  political  revolt ; 
the  example  of  Piedmont  being  constantly 
placed  before  the  eyes  of  Bnler  and  subjects. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  173 

as  an  object  lesson  of  the  benefits  to  be  derived 
from  Constitutional  Government.  Thus  in- 
directly a  parallel  was  to  be  drawn  between  the 
partisans  of  Austria  and  Absolutism,  and  the 
representatives  of  Italy  and  Liberty ;  and  the 
responsibility  of  the  rejection  of  the  alliance, 
and  its  possible  consequences,  laid  at  the  door 
of  King  Francis  and  his  Government. 

In  his  eloquent  refutation  of  the  charges  of 
duplicity,  advanced  by  his  political  enemies, 
Villamarina  writes  in  the  "  Opinione  "  of  April 
26,  1861:  "I  do  not  speak  of  the  most  con- 
ciliatory dispositions  I  carried  to  Naples,  in 
accordance  with  the  orders  and  instructions  I 
had  received  from  my  Sovereign  and  from  his 
Government.  I  will  not  mention  the  honest, 
frank  and  sincere  manner  in  which  I  executed 
those  orders  and  instructions  in  the  negotiations 
I  had  the  honor  to  undertake  with  the  Court  of 
Naples  :  without  ever  attempting  to  shake  the 
loyalty  of  others,  I  yet  placed  my  own  beyond 
the  insidious  intrigues  of  the  ever-alert  enemies 
and  adversaries  of  Italy,  who  swarmed  in  the 
Councils  of  that  King,  and  constituted  the 
domestic  influences  which  surrounded  him." 

Addressing  the  Senate  on  April  9  of  the 
same  year,  Villamarina  draws  the  following 
word-picture  of  the  Neapolitan  Administration  : 
**  Corrupt  and  corrupting,   it  was  organized 


174  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

thus  :  a  people  debased  ;  held  in  ignorance  and 
the  most  revolting  brutality  :  a  large  army, 
well  uniformed,  well  paid,  of  fine  appearance, 
but  inspired  by  absolutely  anti-national  senti- 
ments, and  trained  to  look  upon  the  foreigner 
as  a  friend,  and  to  regard  the  fellow-citizen  as 
an  enemy,  and  as  such  to  be  oppressed  and  de- 
spoiled. No  development  of  commerce  ;  none 
of  industries,  nor  of  agriculture :  all  doors 
closed  to  this  unfortunate  people,  save  one 
alone,  that  of  official  life  :  and  that  not  for  the 
formation  of  honest  employees,  but  rewarding 
the  bad  and  corrupting  the  good,  in  order  to 
win  over  the  greatest  number  of  satellites  to 
the  ferocious  despotism  and  cruel  oppression 
practised.  Each  official  received  a  modest 
salary,  but  each  knew  that  he  could  steal  with 
impunity,  and  for  these  reasons  the  offices 
were  sought  after :  not  in  order  to  serve  the 
State  and  benefit  Society,  but  on  account  of 
the  fat  increment  afforded  by  fraudulent  con- 
tracts and  mal versions  of  all  kinds." 

The  picture  is  a  dark  one,  and  some  allow- 
ance should  be  made  for  the  righteous  indig- 
nation of  the  speaker.  A  glimpse  at  the  ad- 
ministrative branches  of  the  Kingdom  under 
Ferdinand  II.  has  been  afforded  in  the  earlier 
pages  of  this  study  :  consequently  the  reader 
will  be  able  to  draw  his  own  conclusions  con- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  175 

cerning  the  accuracy  of  what  appears  a  rather 
sweeping  statement ;  reproduced  here,  however, 
as  exemplifying  the  sentiments  prevailing 
amongst  a  considerable  number  of  persons  high 
placed  in  the  official  world. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

Efforts  to  secure  alliance.— Cavour  returns  to  office.— His  cor- 
respondence with  Villamarina.— Prudential  policy. — Cession 
of  Nice  and  Savoy.— The  reasons  for  same.- Villamarina's 
reports.— Distrust  and  opposition  excited  by  cession  of 
territory. — Cavour's  relations  with  Kossuth  and  Hungarian 
patriots.— Cavour  and  European  Diplomacy.— Victor  Em- 
manuel's letter  to  King  of  Naples.— Determined  opposition 
to  alliance. 

During  the  opening  weeks  of  1860 — a  year 
fraught  with  the  direst  consequences  to  the 
tottering  Neapolitan  Throne — the  Marquis  de 
Villamarina  labored  incessantly  to  bring  about 
a  mutual  understanding  between  the  Courts  of 
Turin  and  Naples.  Of  the  futility  of  his  efforts 
to  secure  an  alliance,  or  even  a  semblance  of 
conciliation,  the  Minister  was  quickly  per- 
suaded. The  intrigues  woven  at  Court  and 
directed  against  the  principles  of  National  In- 
dependence, together  with  the  plots  hatched  in 
conjunction  with  the  Vatican  for  the  frustra- 
tion of  the  Piedmontese  negotiations,  confirmed 
the  diplomatist  in  his  conviction  that  no  lessons 
had  been  learnt  from  recent  events  in  the  States 
of  Northern  Italy,  and  the  misfortunes  of  those 
Rulers  who  sought  to  oppose  the  manifestation 
176 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  177 

of  popular  aspirations  towards  National  Liberty. 
In  addition  his  task  was  still  further  compli- 
cated by  the  agitation  of  certain  enthusiasts 
whose  noisy  clamor  alarmed  the  susceptibilities 
not  only  of  Francis,  but  of  European  Diplo- 
macy. 

Count  Cavour  returned  to  power  on  the  twen- 
tieth of  January,  and  it  was  indeed  fortunate 
for  Italy  that  he  again  held  the  tiller. 

In  his  letter  to  d'Azeglio  of  July  16,  1859, 
written  on  the  day  of  his  retirement  from  office, 
Cavour  had  said  :  '*  You  are  aware  that  the 
policy  of  the  present  Cabinet  has  always  been 
frankly  National ;  that  it  had  not  in  view  the 
territorial  aggrandizement  of  Piedmont,  but 
the  emancipation  of  Italy  ;  the  establishment 
throughout  the  whole  Peninsula  of  a  wisely 
liberal  system." 

Was  a  modification  of  these  views  now  advis- 
able ?  And  must  the  obstinate  refusal  of 
Francis  to  come  to  terms  with  the  generous 
Nationalist  aspirations  of  the  day,  mean  the 
removal  of  the  chief  obstacle  to  the  establish- 
ment throughout  the  whole  Peninsula  of  a 
"  wisely  liberal  system "  ?  That  Cavour  al- 
ready foresaw  that  his  Koyal  Master  must  event- 
ually occupy  the  Neapolitan  Throne  is  incon- 
testable ;  but  he  was  keenly  aware  that  Europe, 
and  first  and  foremost  the  French  Emperor, 

13 


178  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

would  strenuously  oppose  such  ambitions. 
Just  how  far  the  Italian  Statesman  guided,  or 
was  guided,  by  the  political  events  of  the  next 
three  months  it  is  hazardous  to  aflBrm. 

That  he  was  sincere  in  his  desire  for  at  least 
a  temporary  arrangement  with  the  King  of 
Naples  there  can  be  no  doubt.  '*  I  strongly 
approve  your  prudence,"  he  wrote  Villamarina 
on  February  11,  '^  and  I  agree  with  you  that 
at  the  present  moment  it  is  of  supreme  impor- 
tance to  prevent  any  revolutionary  movement 
in  Italy,"  The  old  Italian  proverb  "  chi  va 
piano,  va  sano "  fitted  the  negotiations  he  had 
in  hand.  The  dread  of  undoing  by  the  pre- 
mature disclosure  of  inopportune  ambitions  the 
good  work  already  fairly  in  course  of  accom- 
plishment, was  as  strong  as  his  desire  to  com- 
plete the  mighty  fabric  of  his  dreams.  None 
other  but  this  past  master  in  the  arts  of  dis- 
simulation— combining  as  he  did  the  wile  of 
the  serpent  and  the  boldness  of  the  lion — could 
have  safely  steered  through  the  perilous  com- 
plications of  the  next  few  months.  France 
had  ceased  active  opposition  to  the  annexation 
of  Central  Italy,  now  merely  insisting  that 
irrefragable  evidence  of  the  public  sentiment 
should  be  forthcoming.  This  both  Cavonr  and 
Ricasoli  were  determined  to  provide,  and  to 
carry  their  point  in  the  face  of  the  opposition 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  179 

of  the  French  Emperor  as  well  as  the  futile  de- 
crees of  the  Congress  of  Zurich,  which  had 
formally  recognized  the  rights  of  the  Sovereigns 
of  Tuscany,  Modena,  and  Parma,  when  it  con- 
cluded its  labors  on  November  10, 1859.  Again, 
fortunately  for  Italian  Unity,  the  Government 
of  Lord  Palmerston,  now  in  power,  was  inclined 
to  regard  with  benignity  the  spread  of  Consti- 
tutional liberties ;  and  this  moral  support,  in 
conjunction  with  the  inflexible  persistency  of 
Ricasoli,  who  would  accept  no  compromise,  or 
half-measures,  finally  turned  the  scales.  With- 
out the  employment  of  force  it  was  manifestly 
impossible  for  Napoleon  to  gainsay  the  decision 
of  the  Tuscan  leaders,  supported  by  unequiv- 
ocal manifestations  of  popular  sentiment. 

True  to  the  principles  of  his  "  politique  de 
pourboire,"  as  Bismarck  had  termed  the  Em- 
peror's diplomacy.  Napoleon,  in  spite  of  his 
voluntary  renunciation  of  all  such  claims  after 
the  Peace  of  Villafranca,  again  broached  the 
subject  of  the  cession  of  Nice  and  Savoy  as 
compensation  for  the  territorial  aggrandize- 
ment allowed  Piedmont.  Undoubtedly  this 
was  no  surprise  to  Cavour  ;  and  in  anticipation 
of  the  immense  eventual  advantages  to  be 
gained  he  was  fain  to  accede  to  the  French 
pretensions  with  as  good  grace  as  possible. 

Summoning  what  philosophy  he  can  to  his 


180  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

aid,  Cavour  writes  on  February  12th  to  the 
Marquis  d'Azeglio,  in  London ;  **  Having 
persuaded  France  to  undertake  the  Italian 
war  in  the  name  of  the  principle  of  nationali- 
ties ;  having  invoked  for  the  last  eight  months 
the  principle  of  deference  to  the  wish  of  the 
people,  especially  when  in  harmony  with  the 
first ;  we  would  not  have  contested  on  one  side 
of  the  Alps  what  we  upheld  on  the  other. 
When  France  asked  us  what  we  would  do  if 
the  great  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Savoy 
and  Nice  demanded  union  with  the  people 
speaking  the  same  tongue,  we  answered  that 
we  did  not  traffic  in  populations  :  that  we 
would  neither  sell  nor  exchange  the  smallest  of 
our  villages  ;  but  that  if  the  subjects  of  non- 
Italian  races  desired,  as  was  said,  to  separate 
from  us,  we  would  certainly  not  restrain  them 
by  force." 

On  March  24th  the  treaty  ceding  Savoy  and 
Nice  to  France  was  signed.  As  he  took  the 
pen  from  the  hand  of  the  French  Plenipo- 
tentiary, Cavour  cynically  remarked  :  *'  Now 
you  are  our  accomplices."  In  other  words 
this  signified  that  the  price  of  the  cession  of 
territory  to  France  was  that  Piedmont  be 
allowed  a  free  hand  in  the  south.  "  The  two 
principal  men  in  Europe  to-day  are  Napoleon 
and  Cavour/'  said  Monsieur  Gruizot.  "The 
stakes  are  laid  ;  I  back  Monsieur  de  Cavour." 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  181 

The  French  statesman  was  correct :  that 
document  bound  the  Emperor  hand  and  foot, 
and  delivered  him  into  the  power  of  his  crafty 
ally.  As  a  matter  of  form  he  might  demur  to 
the  Sicilian  expedition,  and  in  the  case  of 
Naples,  peevishly  resent  the  unceremonious  dis- 
card of  Muratist  ambitions,  but  beyond  dip- 
lomatic protestations  he  was  not  likely  to  go. 

Putting  aside  the  purely  sentimental  con- 
siderations, in  themselves  of  considerable  im- 
portance, the  loss  to  Piedmont  was  not  of  great 
material  consequence.  The  abandonment  of 
Nice  seemed  likely,  however,  to  cause  the 
Government  embarrassment,  as  it  aroused  the 
furious  resentment  and  violent  opposition  of 
Garibaldi,  already  a  power  to  be  reckoned  with, 
who  being  a  native  of  that  town  regarded  the 
cession  as  a  personal  grievance. 

Meanwhile  Villamarina  was  patiently  study- 
ing the  situation  in  Naples,  and  slowly  reaching 
the  conclusions  which  proved  of  such  inesti- 
mable value  in  the  guidance  of  the  policy 
emanating  from  Turin.  To  him  Cavour  ap- 
peals on  March  30th  for  trustworthy  informa- 
tion concerning  the  probable  condition  of 
public  sentiment  under  certain  political  con- 
tingencies ;  as  well  as  regarding  the  relative 
strength  of  the  Republicans,  Annexationists 
and  Mnratists,  throughout  the  realm.     These 


182  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

are  interesting  as  indicating  a  possible  modifica- 
tion of  policy,  resulting  from  the  signature  of 
the  treaty  ceding  Nice  and  Savoy,  by  which 
sacrifice  it  was  hoped  to  commit  the  French 
Emperor  to  at  least  a  tacit  acquiescence  in  the 
purely  Italian  diplomacy  of  the  Piedmontese 
Cabinet.  "  You  know,"  he  continues,  "  that 
I  do  not  at  all  desire  to  force  a  premature 
issue  of  the  Neapolitan  question.  I  think,  on 
the  contrary,  that  it  would  suit  us  to  have  the 
existing  condition  of  affairs  prolonged  some 
years.  But  I  learn  from  a  trustworthy  source 
that  even  England  despairs  of  the  maintenance 
of  the  '  statu  quo,'  and  it  is,  doubtless,  in  view 
of  not  improbable  eventualities  that  she  keeps 
her  fleet  in  Neapolitan  waters.  I  fear  there- 
fore that  we  shall  soon  be  forced  to  adopt  a 
plan  which  I  would  have  liked  to  have  had 
time  to  mature." 

The  reply  forwarded  by  Villamarina,  on 
April  14th,  served  as  the  basis  for  the 
subsequent  diplomatic  policy  of  Piedmont, 
until,  owing  to  the  bewilderingly  rapid  se- 
quence of  events,  the  studied  policy  of  to-day 
gave  way  before  the  expediency  of  to-morrow. 
Viewed  as  such,  a  synopsis  of  the  Envoy's 
opinions  is  pertinent. 

The  Marquis  expressed  himself  deeply  dis- 
trustful of  the  arguments  advanced  by  Napo- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  183 

leon  to  secure  Neapolitan  intervention  in  the 
Marches,  and  the  consent  of  Piedmont  to  this 
undertaking.  In  this  scheme  he  thought  he 
recognized  a  double  policy,  the  result  of  which 
would  prove  a  deception  to  his  Government. 
The  guarantee  of  Austrian  non-intervention, 
except  in  the  event  of  a  revolution  in  Naples, 
meant  nothing,  or  rather  meant  everything,  as 
such  revolution  could  be  provoked  at  will  by 
the  Austrian  agents  there,  should  it  be  deemed 
opportune.  Unless  supported  by  armed  in- 
tervention, an  insurrection  incited  by  French 
agents  could  not  result  in  the  Emperor's  favor. 
Muratism,  although  not  dangerous  under  ex- 
isting circumstances,  might  become  so  should 
the  Emperor  give  that  party  frank  and  un- 
equivocal support.  In  the  event  of  such  a 
combination,  the  party  would  undoubtedly  be 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  adhesion  of  a  large 
body  of  indifferent  or  timid  partisans  who 
would  avail  themselves  of  an  opportunity  to 
cast  in  their  lot  with  the  strongest.  To 
Cavour's  query  concerning  the  possibility  of 
an  annexationist  movement  such  as  had  taken 
place  in  Tuscany,  Villamarina  unhesitatingly 
replied  in  the  negative.  He  believed  the  army 
to  be  with  the  King ;  and  the  Government 
amply  strong  enough  to  restrain  the  populace. 
A  revolution  such  as  had  recently  broken  out 


184  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

in  Sicily  could  alone  dethrone  the  Bourbons 
of  Naples.  While  Naples  still  held  very 
generally  to  autonomy,  the  Sicilian  revolt  was 
purely  annexationist  :  questions  of  Liberty, 
Reform  or  Constitution  entering  into  it  merely 
because  synonymous  with  the  doctrines  of  the 
House  of  Savoy.  Should  the  Sicilian  revolt 
prove  successful,  continental  Naples  might  be 
drawn  into  the  movement  :  the  provinces  lead- 
ing, the  capital  following.  Such  a  conse- 
quence, foreshadowing  as  it  must  Italian  Unity, 
would  undoubtedly  prove  most  distasteful  to 
Napoleon  III.  as  also  to  non-Imperial  France. 
Republicanism,  the  Marquis  considers  an  in- 
significant element  in  the  present  crisis,  the 
frank  honesty  of  the  Savoy  Dynasty  having 
disarmed  the  most  energetic  apostles  of  that 
creed.  Turning  to  a  consideration  of  the 
attitude  of  foreign  diplomacy,  Villamarina  says 
in  reference  to  Russia  :  "  I  must  say  that  the 
Representative  of  this  great  Power  has  for 
several  days  past  insisted,  both  with  the  King 
and  with  the  Government,  even  putting  great 
vivacity  in  his  arguments,  on  the  necessity, 
and  even  the  urgency,  of  adopting  a  more 
conciliatory  system.  Aside  from  this  advice, 
which  is  to-day  perhaps  rather  tardy,  he  holds 
aloof,  and  maintains  a  strict  reserve.*'  This 
attitude  is  ascribed  by  Villamarina  as  due  not 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  185 

to  special  friendliness  for  Piedmont,  but  to  the 
desire  to  be  revenged  on  Austria  and  wipe 
out  the  humiliations  imposed  by  the  Court  of 
Vienna  in  1856.  As  far  as  England  was  con- 
cerned there  appeared  no  difficulty  whatever. 
The  Marquis  placed  no  faith  in  the  insinua- 
tions, fostered  by  Continental  jealousies,  that 
Great  Britain  aimed  at  gaining  possession  of 
Sicily  ;  nor  did  he  anticipate  any  opposition  on 
the  part  of  that  Power  to  the  eventual  achieve- 
ment of  Italian  Unity.  Her  Majesty^s  Minister 
at  Naples  had  frankly  and  openly  declared  to 
him  that  England  would  not  repudiate,  where 
Naples  was  concerned,  the  principles  she  had 
admitted  in  Central  Italy ;  provided  the  annexa- 
tion be  the  result  of  universal  popular  suffrage, 
expressed  with  entire  liberty  of  action,  and 
without  pressure  or  constraint. 

The  cession  of  Nice  and  Savoy  had  caused 
considerable  discontent ;  but  Sir  James  Hudson, 
who  thoroughly  understood  and  appreciated 
Cavour's  motives,  was  generously  disposed  to 
report  the  matter  in  the  most  favorable  light  to 
his  Government,  and  to  smooth  over  all  diplo- 
matic asperities  ;  while  d'Azeglio,  who  possessed 
the  esteem  and  confidence  of  many  influen- 
tial English  politicians,  labored  incessantly  to 
minimize  the  political  importance  of  France's 
acquisitions,  and  was  successful  in  turning  the 


186  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

wrath  of  the  British  Cabinet  against  the  greed 
of  the  French  Emperor,  who  had  thus  ruth- 
lessly exacted  his  pound  of  flesh. 

To  cripple  Austria,  and  embarrass  her  mili- 
tary independence  by  encouraging  the  polit- 
ical fermentation  in  Hungary  was  an  essential 
part  of  Cavour's  general  policy.  The  Italian 
statesman  entertained  more  or  less  secret  re- 
lations with  the  great  Hungarian  patriot  and 
agitator,  Louis  Kossuth,  as  well  as  with  his 
accredited  agents,  principally  Klapka,  Pulszky 
and  Teleki,  who  spent  much  of  their  time  in 
Turin,  and  kept  their  chief  accurately  and 
minutely  informed  on  all  questions  of  current 
interest.  Kossuth,  with  whom  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  III.  was  also  in  frequent  and  intimate 
communication,  and  who  exercised  an  undoubt- 
ed influence  both  in  Paris  and  Turin,  was 
tolerated,  even  sympathized  with,  yet  distrust- 
ed, in  official  England.  Moral  encouragement 
had  not  been  withheld  the  Hungarian  agitator 
in  London  and  Paris,  while  Turin  had  given 
more  substantial  support  in  the  shape  of  funds 
and  arms.  In  the  complications  resulting 
from  the  proposed  annexations  in  northern  and 
central  Italy,  and  during  the  Neapolitan  crisis 
the  importance  of  the  r61e  Hungary  might  as- 
sume was  clearly  recognized.  "  The  Hungarian 
question,"  wrote  Oavour  to  Lorenzo  Valerio, 


TBE  COLLAPSE  OF  187 

Governor  of  Como  (near  which  place  Kossuth 
was  staying  in  the  spring  of  1860),  *'  is  for  us  of 
supreme  importance.  It  is  closely  allied  with 
onr  own.  Without  the  co-operation  of  Hungary 
the  seizure  of  the  Quadrilateral  is  an  extremely 
risky  undertaking  ;  nevertheless  it  must  be  at- 
tempted, not  so  much  for  the  liberation  of 
Italy  from  the  Austrians  as  for  our  protection 
from  anarchical  revolution." 

Pulszky,  who  obtained  an  audience  with 
Victor  Emmanuel  shortly  after  Garibaldi's  ar- 
rival in  Sicily,  in  his  report  of  the  conversation 
to  Kossuth,  represents  the  King  as  answering 
his  request  for  a  fresh  consignment  of  arms, 
with  the  significant  remark  that  all  available 
arms  were  sent  to  Sicily  to  be  kept  in  readiness 
for  use  in  Naples.  "  We  are  on  the  eve  of 
great  events,"  said  the  King.  "  It  is  possible 
that  Austria  will  attack  us  :  I  should  be  glad 
of  it :  I  would  courageously  resist  the  on- 
slaught. I  have  still  many  accounts  to  settle 
with  Austria ;  the  exile  and  death  of  my  father 
are  not  yet  avenged.  I  know  they  hate  me, 
and  they  have  good  reason  for  so  doing.  .  .  . 
In  a  month  we  shall  know  if  we  are  to  have 
war  this  year;  (' preparez-vous ')  hold  your- 
selves in  readiness."  * 

*  Chiala,  Politica  Secreta  di  Napoleone  HI.  e  di 
Cavour. 


188  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

It  was  to  this  plotting  Prince  Albert  object- 
ed, deeming  it  unworthy  of  a  great  statesman. 
It  would,  however,  be  exacting  too  much  of 
any  statesman,  especially  one  situated  as  was 
Cavour,  to  renounce  the  use  of  clandestine 
weapons  in  combating  a  crafty  foe  of  im- 
measurably greater  numerical  strength  ;  or  to 
look  for  an  over-scrupulous  interpretation  of 
the  rigid  ethics  of  international  obligations  in 
times  of  peace,  pending  the  solution  of  a  crisis 
involving  national  existence.  And  especially 
when  it  was  patent  that  Austria  neglected  no 
opportunity  of  opposing  the  full  force  of  her 
diplomatic  and  dynastic  influences  to  circum- 
vent the  legitimate  aspirations  towards  the  Nea- 
politan alliance,  and  the  adoption  of  a  purely 
national  policy  in  Italy.  If  Cavour  outwit- 
ted European  diplomacy  he  was  merely  the 
winner  in  a  contest  of  official  duplicity  in  which 
many  of  his  competitors  overreached  them- 
selves, and  became  the  victims  of  their  own 
double-dealing.  Yet  notwithstanding  the  pro- 
bability of  England's  complacence,  and  the  con- 
viction that  the  French  Emperor,  by  virtue  of 
the  recently  concluded  territorial  bargain,  must 
needs  "laisser  faire"  should  an  issue  of  the 
Neapolitan  question  be  forced  upon  him,  Cavour 
with  true  statesmanlike  foresight,  and  the  very 
thorough  knowledge  he  possessed  of  national 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  189 

idiosyncrasies,  preferred  that  evolution  rather 
than  revolution  should  be  the  means  employed. 
Besides  these  prudential  preferences,  the  polit- 
ical horizon  beyond  the  Alps  did  not  at  this 
moment  (April)  appear  suflBciently  free  from 
clouds  to  warrant  a  radical  change  of  policy 

It  was  therefore  under  his  advice  that  Victor 
Emmanuel  wrote  a  carefully  worded  proposal 
(partaking  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  a  warn- 
ing) to  his  Cousin  of  Naples :  "...  We 
have  reached  a  period  when  Italy  can  be  divided 
into  two  powerful  States  ;  one  in  the  North, 
the  other  in  the  South ;  two  States  which  by 
the  adoption  of  one  and  the  same  National 
policy,  could  maintain  the  great  conception 
of  our  time :  National  Independence.  The 
principle  of  Dualism,  provided  it  be  well  estab- 
lished and  honestly  adhered  to,  may  yet  be 
accepted  by  Italians.  ...  If  you  allow  some 
months  to  elapse  without  giving  your  adherence 
to  my  friendly  suggestion,  your  Majesty  will 
understand  the  bitterness  of  those  terrible 
words,  *  too  laie,'  as  experienced  by  a  member 
of  your  family  in  1830  in  Paris  :  perhaps  Ital- 
ians may  concentrate  all  their  hopes  on  a  single 
head,  and  there  are  duties  which,  however 
painful,  an  Italian  Prince  must  accept.  There- 
fore let  us  devote  ourselves  jointly  to  so  noble 
a  task ;  let  us  demonstrate  to  the  Holy  Father 


190  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

the  necessity  of  granting  legitimate  reforms ; 
let  us  bind  our  States  with  a  bond  of  real 
friendship,  whence  will  undoubtedly  spring  the 
grandeur  of  our  common  country.  Grant 
without  delay  a  Liberal  Constitution  to  your 
subjects ;  make  appeal  to  the  influence  of  the 
men  who  are  most  esteenied  on  account  of  the 
sufferings  they  have  endured  in  the  cause  of 
Liberty.  Efface  all  suspicions  from  the  minds 
of  your  people,  and  let  us  conclude  a  perpetual 
alliance  between  the  two  most  powerful  States 
of  the  Peninsula.  Thus  shall  we  secure  for 
our  country  the  inestimable  advantage  of  being 
the  arbiter  of  its  destinies.  ...     * 

'*  Whom  the  Gods  destroy  they  first  drive 
mad."  Victor  Emmanuel's  personal  appeal 
was  received  in  the  same  spirit  of  stubborn 
antagonism  as  had  been  the  advice  of  his 
diplomatic  representatives,  and  the  counsels  of 
France  and  England.  Even  the  encourage- 
ment of  Eussia,  which  favored  the  proposed 
alliance,  was  powerless  against  the  opposition 
of  the  Pope,  who  objected  to  Francis  that  inti- 
mate relations  between  the  Neapolitan  and 
Sardinian  Courts  must  unavoidably  imply 
acquiescence  in  the  spoliations  of  which  the 
Church  had  been  the  victim. 

*  Victor  Emmanuel  to  Francis  II.,  April  28, 1880. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Revolutionary  plotting.— MorelU  in  Calabria.— Garibaldi  and 
Tennyson.— Preparations  for  Garibaldi's  expedition.— Maz- 
zini  indorses  Unity  and  Victor  Emmanuel. — Conspiracy  and 
Massacre  of  La  Qancia.— Risings  in  Sicily,  their  repression. — 
Diplomatic  protests. — Nunziante's  mission.- Rumors  of 
Garibaldi's  expedition.— Plans  to  frustrate  same.- Garibaldi 
lands  at  Marsala.- Lanza  sent  to  Sicily.— His  methods  of 
combatins;  revolution.— Sicily  welcomes  Garibaldi. 

During  the  early  months  of  1860  unparal- 
leled activity  reigned  amongst  the  various  revo- 
lutionary committees  in  Naples,  the  provinces, 
and  in  Sicily.  None  believed  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  political  *'  statu  quo  "  ;  and  the 
events  in  Upper  Italy,  and  discouraging  atti- 
tude assumed  by  the  new  King,  left  only  a  few 
optimists,  or  dynastic  enthusiasts,  with  any  illu- 
sions concerning  the  stability  of  the  Throne. 

In  Calabria  more  especially,  the  revolution- 
ary organizations  were  plotting  a  general  up- 
rising, and  unceasingly  laboring  for  the  dissem- 
ination of  their  doctrines  amongst  all  classes. 

As  early  as  December,  1859,  Donate  Morelli, 

one  of  the  most  ardent  Calabrian  patriots,  and 

an  enthusiastic  Unionist,  opened  a  vigorous 

campaign  with  the  object  to  securing  the  co- 

191 


192  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

operation  of  Garibaldi  in  the  revolationary 
movements  of  the  South.  In  his  letters  to  the 
Committee  at  Naples,  he  advises  that  Garibaldi 
be  urged  to  organize  an  expedition  to  the  Oala- 
brian  coast.  A  couple  of  thousand  men,  well 
oflScered,  and  provided  with  eflBcient  arms, 
munitions,  and  a  dozen  field-pieces,  would, 
Morelli  is  confident,  be  successful.  Everything 
is  in  readiness  in  the  southern  provinces,  and 
only  the  initiative  of  Garibaldi  is  needful. 
"  We  dwell  over  a  mine,"  he  writes,  "  and 
must  either  fire  the  train  or  withdraw  the 
charge  ;  otherwise  there  is  imminent  danger 
that  it  explode  spontaneously ; "  and  the  en- 
terprise be  thereby  seriously  compromised,  for 
"  the  young  men  already  champ  the  bits  which 
restrain  their  generous  impulses,  and  reproach 
us  with  the  tremendous  responsibility  we  as- 
sume in  deferring  action." 

The  Central  Committee  in  Naples,  in  ac- 
knowledging Morelli's  eloquent  appeal,  declines 
the  responsibility  of  a  resolution,  and  contents 
itself  with  cautioning  the  Calabrian  chief  to 
use  extreme  prudence  in  his  relations  with  the 
various  sub-committees  throughout  his  district. 
Morelli,  nothing  daunted,  redoubled  his  mar- 
vellous energy,  and  doggedly  continued  his 
propaganda,  contributing  inestimable  services 
in  the  preparation  of  the  political  soil,  and  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  193 

planting  of  the  seed  which  was  to  flourish  so 
luxuriantly  six  months  later. 

But  the  cry  for  Garibaldi  was  soon  taken  up. 
The  name  of  the  popular  hero  exercised  a  po- 
tent fascination  over  the  people  of  Southern 
Italy,  and  inspired  even  the  Neapolitan  troops 
with  vague  awe.  The  legends  of  his  exploits 
in  America  acquired  fabulous  proportions  in 
the  minds  of  the  ignorant  and  impressionable 
Southerners,  while  the  traditions  of  1849,  and 
the  memory  of  the  precipitous  retreat  of  Vel- 
letri  when  the  Bourbon  arms  fled  before  the 
red-shirted  warriors  of  the  Eoman  Tribune, 
were  still  fresh  in  the  recollections  of  the  sol- 
diers of  Francis  II.  De  Cesare  says  that  even 
before  the  General  landed  at  Marsala,  or  had 
entered  Palermo,  his  invincibility  had  become 
legendary  amongst  the  populations  of  the  Two 
Sicilies.  He  was  believed  to  be  endowed  with 
superhuman  powers  :  in  his  presence  the  op- 
posing forces  melted  away  ;  he  had  conquered 
all  those  who  measured  themselves  against  him, 
and  only  a  few  months  ago  the  Austrians  in 
Lombardy  had  been  routed.  His  proud,  and 
at  the  same  time  benevolent  physiognomy,  con- 
firmed this  belief,  and  was  universally  known 
by  means  of  innumerable  reproductions  of  his 
portrait. 

During  Garibaldi's  sojourn  in  England,  in 
13 


194  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

1864,  he  visited  Tennyson,  who  "  was  charmed 
with  his  simplicity,"  but  thought  that  in 
worldly  matters  he  seemed  to  have  the  "  divine 
stupidity  of  a  hero."  In  a  note  to  the  Duke 
of  Argyle  the  Poet  refers  to  this  visit  : 
"...  What  a  noble  human  being  !  I  ex- 
pected to  see  a  hero  and  I  was  not  disappointed. 
One  cannot  exactly  say  of  him  what  Chaucer 
says  of  the  ideal  Knight,  '  As  meke  he  was  of 
port  as  is  a  maid  ; '  he  is  more  majestic  than 
meek,  and  his  manners  have  a  certain  divine 
simplicity  in  them,  such  as  I  have  never  wit- 
nessed in  a  native  of  these  islands,  among  men 
at  least,  and  they  are  gentler  than  those  of 
most  young  maidens  whom  I  know.  He  came 
here  and  smoked  his  cigar  in  my  little  room 
and  we  had  half  an  hour's  talk  in  English, though 
I  doubt  whether  he  understood  me  perfectly, 
and  his  meaning  was  often  obscure  to  me.  .  .  . 
I  happened  to  make  use  of  this  expression, 
'  That  fatal  debt  of  gratitude  owed  by  Italy  to 
Napoleon.'  *  Gratitude,'  he  said;  'hasn't  he 
had  his  pay  ?  his  reward  ?  If  Napoleon  were 
dead  I  should  be  glad,  and  if  I  were  dead  he 
would  be  glad.'" 

Donato  Morelli's  activity  on  the  mainland 
was  ably  seconded  in  Sicily  by  Francesco  Crispi 
and  Rosolino  Pilo,  both  natives  of  the  island. 
As  agent  of  the  revolutionary  committee  Crispi 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  195 

— who  in  spite  of  long  exile  was  thoroughly  in 
touch  with  the  political  aspirations  of  his  fellow- 
citizens — made  two  expeditions  throughout  the 
island,  and  carefully  laid  down  the  lines  for 
the  new  movement  prepared  by  the  exiles  in 
Turin.  At  this  period  Crispi  was  an  ardent 
Republican,  and  as  a  disciple  of  Mazzini,  was 
looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  Cavour,  to  whom 
he  made  known  the  result  of  his  investigations 
and  applied  for  material  aid.  With  Farini, 
then  Governor  of  Modena,  he  was  more  suc- 
cessful, however,  receiving  the  promise  of  a 
million  francs  towards  the  organization  of  the 
projected  expedition  which  he  sought  to  induce 
Garibaldi  to  command. 

Petty  jealousies  and  dissensions  amongst  the 
leaders  and  instigators  of  the  auxiliary  expedi- 
tion from  Northern  Italy,  together  with  the 
hesitation  of  Garibaldi  to  assume  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  command,  caused  the  miscarriage 
of  expected  co-operation  between  the  exiles  and 
their  impatient  brethren  in  the  South  when,  on 
April  fourth,  the  flame  burst  forth  in  Palermo. 

Meanwhile  pnblic  opinion  was  electrified  by 
a  renunciation,  or  modification,  of  creed  com- 
ing from  a  most  unexpected  quarter.  The  ac- 
tion of  Mazzini,  who,  in  launching  his  soul- 
inspiring  proclamation  to  the  Sicilians,  coupled 
the  destruction  of  the  Bourbons  with  the  war- 


196  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

cry  of  **  Annexation  "  and  "  Long  Live  Victor 
Emmanuel,  King  of  Italy,"  overcame  all  hesi- 
tation, and  rallied  the  independent  parties  to 
the  banner  of  Savoy.  ''  Before  I  became  a 
Kepublican,*'  he  wrote,  "  I  was  a  Unionist ;  I 
thought  that  the  Kepublic  alone  could  lead  to 
unity,  I  was  mistaken.  Victor  Emmanuel  has 
carried  Italy  nearer  this  goal,  and  will  lead  her 
thither  if  the  people  lend  him  their  support. 
For  this  reason  I  sacrifice  old  theories,  and  with 
you,  Sicilians,  and  with  all  the  other  Peoples 
of  the  Peninsula,  who  in  future  will  become 
one  People,  with  you  I  cry  :  *  Long  Live  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel,  King  of  Italy  !  Sicilians,  the 
hour  has  come ;  in  the  name  of  Italy,  to  arms  ! ' " 

Mazzini's  formal  and  unconditional  indorse- 
ment of  the  revolutionary  programme  of  Unity 
under  the  House  of  Savoy,  caused  the  wildest 
enthusiasm  throughout  Italy.  In  Naples  tri- 
color badges  and  ribbons  made  their  appear- 
ance in  the  streets,  or  were  thrown  from  the 
galleries  of  the  theatres,  in  spite  of  the  re- 
doubled vigilance  and  severity  of  the  Police. 

Twenty-four  hours  previous  to  the  outbreak 
in  Palermo  the  Count  of  Syracuse  addressed  a 
solemn  warning  to  his  nephew,  pointing  out 
the  dangers  of  the  present  policy  and  terminat- 
ing as  follows  :  "  One  single  course  remains 
open  for  the  salvation  of  the  country  and  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  197 

dynasty,  threatened  with  dire  peril :  namely, 
the  adoption  of  a  national  policy  which,  having 
its  foundation  in  the  real  interests  of  the  State 
naturally  indicates  that  the  interests  of  the 
realm  be  amalgamated  with  those  of  Upper 
Italy." 

Although  there  would  appear  to  be  a  direct 
connection  between  the  Princess  words  and  the 
almost  simultaneous  thunder-clap  in  Sicily, 
such  is  not  really  the  case.  That  the  Count  of 
Syracuse,  owing  to  his  avowed  sympathies  with 
the  Liberal  Party,  was  aware  that  a  rising  was 
projected  in  the  island  is  possible  ;  but  the  ex- 
plosion in  Palermo  being  due  to  fortuitous  cir- 
cumstances of  which  he  could  not  have  been 
cognizant  at  the  time,  precludes  the  supposi- 
tion that  he  counted  on  its  effect  to  augment 
the  significance  of  his  warning.  Nevertheless 
the  more  bigoted  of  the  **  Camarilla*'  persisted 
in  tracing  the  conspiracy  to  the  Count,  and, 
incredible  as  it  must  appear,  persuaded 
Prancis  that  the  whole  affair  was  a  trap  to 
frighten  him  into  the  acceptance  of  the  desired 
alliance. 

The  conspiracy  of  La  Gancia  had  been  organ- 
ized m  accordance  with  the  scheme  for  the  up- 
rising fomented  by  Crispi  in  his  recent  visits  to 
Sicily,  and  was  intended  to  co-operate  with  the 
expedition  from  Piedmont,  promised  by  Crispi 


198  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

and  Pilo.  The  monastery  of  that  name  situ- 
ated on  the  outskirts  of  Palermo  had  been 
selected  as  a  deposit  for  arms  and  ammunition, 
gradually  collected  for  use  at  a  propitious  mo- 
ment. Information  having  been  furnished 
Maniscalco,  a  famous  chief  of  the  Sicilian  Po- 
lice, on  April  3rd,  by  a  treacherous  inmate  of 
the  establishment,  to  the  effect  that  arms  were 
concealed  in  the  building,  and  that  it  was  the 
habitual  meeting  place  of  Liberalist  conspira- 
tors well  known  to  the  Police,  steps  were  im- 
mediately taken  to  raid  the  premises.  In  con- 
cert with  General  Salzano,  Military  Commander 
of  Palermo,  Maniscalco  penetrated  into  the 
buildings  and  instituted  a  search,  which,  how- 
ever, revealed  nothing  of  a  more  revolutionary 
character  than  a  dozen  monks  calmly  perform- 
ing their  evening  devotional  exercises.  Never- 
theless, convinced  of  the  accuracy  of  his  infor- 
mation, the  suspicious  Chief  of  Police  caused 
the  monastery  to  be  closely  watched  during  the 
night,  and  aided  by  the  soldiery  completely 
surrounded  the  buildings.  Trapped  like  mice 
the  insurgents  who  had  lain  concealed  in  the 
vaults  during  the  search,  rashly  opened  fire  on 
the  Royalists  at  daybreak ;  the  Church  bells 
sounding  a  general  alarm.  Cries  of  "Viva 
ritalia  ;  Viva  Vittorio  Emmanuele*'  resounded 
on  all  sides,  as  the  troops  stormed  the  monas- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  199 

tery  and  breaking  in  the  doors  were  soon  en- 
gaged in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle  with  the 
inmates.  The  defenders,  few  in  number,  were 
quickly  overpowered  ;  nineteen  Liberals  and 
one  monk  were  put  to  death,  and  many  wounded. 
Having  gained  possession,  the  soldiery  com- 
pletely sacked  and  devastated  the  premises, 
carrying  off  even  the  sacred  images  and  objects 
of  ritual. 

General  Salzano,  fearing  further  disturb- 
ances, immediately  placed  the  city  under  mar- 
tial law,  and  demanded  the  consignment  of  all 
fire-arms  within  a  delay  of  twenty-four  hours, 
under  penalty  of  death.  Maniscalco,  in  the 
meanwhile,  lost  not  a  moment  in  placing  under 
arrest  all  citizens  suspected  of  participation  in 
the  conspiracy,  or  known  as  sympathizers  with 
the  Liberalists.  Amongst  those  imprisoned 
were  Baron  Riso,  whose  son  had  been  wounded 
at  La  Gancia  ;  Prince  Niscemi,  Prince  Giardi- 
nelli,  Chevalier  Sangiovanni,  and  many  others 
of  social  and  political  prominence. 

In  spite  of  the  crushing  defeat  suffered  by 
their  comrades  in  Palermo  the  insurrectionists 
throughout  the  island  rose  against  their  op- 
pressors, and  joined  in  the  cry  for  **  Italy  and 
Victor  Emmanuel."  Bloody  encounters  took 
place  at  Bagheria,  Misimeri,  Carini,  and  Par- 
tiuico,  and  quickly  spread  to  other  towns  and 


200  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

villages  of  the  provinces.  Eosolino  Pile,  who 
had  landed  secretly  just  after  the  disaster  at 
La  Gancia,  hastened  to  undertake  the  organi- 
zation of  the  scattered  hands  ;  at  the  same 
time  urgently  petitioning  Garibaldi  to  no 
longer  delay  his  expedition  for  the  liberation 
of  the  unhappy  island.  Through  his  instru- 
mentality the  following  proclamation  was  cir- 
culated over  the  length  and  breadth  of  Sicily, 
and  kept  alive  the  flagging  energies  of  the 
patriots  :  **  The  blood  of  the  massacred  martyrs 
cries  out  for  vengeance.  Let  all  prepare  to 
fight.  We  will  no  longer  have  peace  until 
Sicily  be  united  to  our  common  country, 
Italy  ! " 

In  Naples  the  news  caused  intense  excite- 
ment in  the  Liberal  ranks,  although  the  Court 
and  official  world  made  light  of  the  incident. 
In  the  streets  seditious  cries  for  Italy  and 
Victor  Emmanuel  kept  the  police  busy  with 
arrests ;  while  the  sympathy  openly  expressed 
for  the  Sicilians  might  have  been  supposed  to 
enlighten  the  most  deluded  optimists  as  to  the 
trend  of  public  sentiment. 

None  could  fairly  question  the  right  of 
Francis  to  chastise  his  rebellious  subjects. 
Unfortunately  for  the  Neapolitan  Monarch  the 
zeal  of  his  agents  exceeded  all  bounds,  and  the 
barbarous  punishment,  and  wholesale  execu- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  201 

tions,  aroused  the  humanitarian  instincts  of 
civilized  Europe.  The  reign  of  Ferdinand  II., 
so  replete  with  shocking  abuses  and  political 
persecutions  as  revealed  in  the  widely-circulated 
letters  of  Mr.  Gladstone  nine  years  earlier,  was 
not  forgotten.  Philanthropic  legislators  in 
foreign  lands,  recalling  the  descriptions  of  the 
atrocities  perpetrated  during  those  years,  and 
aware  that  Francis  refused  to  depart  one  iota 
from  the  mistaken  policy  of  his  father,  now 
asked  whether  they  were  to  be  called  upon  to 
passively  witness  a  repetition  of  those  horrors. 
The  Military  Commission  in  Palermo  organized 
for  the  trial  of  those  suspected  of  participation 
in  the  recent  outbreak  appeared  to  have  lost 
all  sense  of  moderation  in  its  thirst  for  blood. 
Both  the  English  and  French  diplomatic  rep- 
resentatives in  Naples,  horrified  at  the  reports 
received  from  the  Sicilian  capital,  protested  to 
Francis  in  the  name  of  outraged  humanity. 
**  I  fear,**  wrote  Brenier  to  his  Government, 
"  that  the  military  justice  of  the  King  of 
Naples  will  cause  more  blood  to  flow  than  was 
shed  during  the  actual  insurrection,  and  that 
it  will  be  even  more  effective  in  severing  Sicily 
from  the  Throne  of  the  Bourbons  than  the 
rebellion." 

Francis  finally  yielded  to  the  protestations  of 
diplomacy,  and,  on  May  seventh,  so  far  re- 


202  TBE  COLLAPSE  OF 

strained  the  ferocity  of  his  agents  as  to  decree 
that  no  capital  execution  should  be  carried  out 
without  his  personal  consent. 

Meanwhile  the  repressive  measures  instituted 
by  General  Salzano  were  vigorously  prosecuted, 
the  Royalist  troops  attacking,  and  in  most 
cases  routing,  the  insurgents,  who  disbanded 
only  to  form  again  in  the  mountainous  districts 
where  pursuit  was  attended  by  almost  insur- 
mountable difficulties.  Again,  unfortunately 
for  the  King  of  Naples,  the  officers  in  com- 
mand of  the  Royal  Troops  allowed  their  men 
to  commit  excesses  of  such  flagrant  brutality, 
burning  and  pillaging  towns  and  villages,  and 
torturing  the  miserable  victims  suspected  of 
collusion  with  the  rebels,  that  the  sympathies 
not  only  of  liberal-minded  foreigners,  but  of 
many  loyal  Neapolitans,  were  actively  enlisted 
in  the  cause  of  the  unhappy  islanders,  while 
the  blood  of  the  Liberals  throughout  Italy 
boiled  with  indignation. 

Francis,  rudely  awakened  from  the  rosy 
dreams  of  security  in  which  the  courtiers  of 
the  "  Camarilla  "  sought  to  keep  him  by  studi- 
ously belittling  the  importance  of  the  insur- 
rection, or  its  consequences,  finally  decided  to 
despatch  General  Nunziante  to  examine  and 
report  on  the  situation  in  the  island.  The 
result  of  this  investigation,  which  was  reported 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  203 

personally  to  the  King  by  Nunziante,  and  cor- 
roboi'ated  by  Acton,  who  commanded  the 
steamer  which  carried  him  ;  was  most  discour- 
aging, amounting  in  fact  to  a  thinly  veiled 
insinuation  that  under  a  continuance  of  the 
existing  official  regime,  the  island  must  inevi- 
tably be  lost  to  the  Crown.  The  Prince  of 
Castelcicala,  Lord  Lieutenant  and  Commander 
in  Chief  of  the  forces  in  Sicily,  had  on  a  recent 
visit  to  the  capital  assured  the  King  that  the 
utmost  quiet  reigned  throughout  the  island. 
Deeply  chagrined  by  the  lamentable  failure  of 
his  political  insight,  and  dismayed  at  the  pro- 
portions the  conspiracy  had  developed  (some 
say  doubting  his  competency  to  cope  with  it) 
Castelcicala  tendered  his  resignation  on  April 
15th,  together  with  the  request  that  he  be  im- 
mediately relieved  of  the  responsibility  of  office. 
This  request  was  not  granted,  however,  until 
a  month  later  ;  and  in  consequence  the  un- 
happy Lord  Lieutenant  suffered  the  additional 
mortification  of  having  heaped  upon  his  head 
the  bitter  reproaches  of  the  Court  for  his 
failure  to  prevent  the  first  brilliant  success  of 
Garibaldi's  invasion.  "  The  men  who  will 
land  in  Sicily,'*  wrote  Francis  a  few  days  after 
the  proffered  resignation,  **will  certainly  not 
be  less  than  a  thousand  ;  add  to  this  number 
those  from  the  villages  and  outlying  districts 


204  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

who  will  rise  after  the  landing,  and  those  who 
will  be  famished  with  arms  and  ammunitions 
brought  by  the  expedition,  and  it  is  evident 
that  one  single  battalion  cannot  stand  against 
such  a  concourse.  I  leave  for  you  to  imagine 
the  pitiable  effect  which  would  be  produced, 
should  the  regiment  be  defeated  in  the  first 
encounter,  or  worse  still,  be  made  prisoner, 
and  transported  abroad  as  a  trophy.  For  this 
reason  strong  concentrations  of  troops  should 
be  arranged,  that  these  may  act  in  concert  with 
the  detachments  destined  to  operate  where  the 
filibusters  may  land,  in  order  to  take  them 
between  two  fires." 

In  spite  of  these  military  preparations  the 
unpleasant  revelations  contained  in  the  report 
of  Nunziante  and  Acton  respectiug  the  degree 
of  confidence  to  be  reposed  in  the  officers  and 
troops  in  the  island,  decided  Francis  to  essay  a 
policy  of  opportunism,  the  propagation  of 
which,  however,  earned  him  not  gratitude  but 
indignation,  mingled  with  a  feeling  akin  to 
contempt.  Instructions  were  issued  from 
Naples  to  raise  the  state  of  siege,  and  to  deal 
leniently  with  the  malcontents ;  for  it  was 
recognized  that  should  Garibaldi's  threatened 
expedition  take  place,  and  a  landing  be  suc- 
cessfully effected,  the  Rebellion  of  to-day  would 
rapidly  be  converted  into  the  Kevolution  of  to- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  206 

morrow.  Half  measures  of  any  description 
now  came  too  late.  The  brutality  of  the  mili- 
tary and  police  had  snapped  the  last  feeble 
link  which  bound  the  Sicilians  to  their  legiti- 
mate Sovereign.  Nor  could  it  be  expected 
that  with  the  promise  of  aid  in  the  immediate 
future  from  the  renowned  Garibaldi,  in  whose 
invincibility  they  firmly  believed,  the  harassed 
and  hunted  bands  of  Rosolino  Pilo,  would  pas- 
sively surrender  their  arms  and  persons  to  the 
discretionary  clemency  of  the  Bourbon,  the 
value  of  whose  assurances  the  dread  experience 
of  the  past  had  taught  them  to  correctly  ap- 
preciate. As  a  consequence,  although  the  in- 
surrection was  apparently  crushed  in  the  towns 
of  the  seaboard,  it  burned  fiercely  in  the 
mountainous  districts  where  the  organized 
bands  had  taken  refuge,  pending  the  advent  of 
the  long-awaited  succor  from  over  the  sea. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  May  6, 
1860,  in  the  midst  of  the  Court  preparations 
for  a  ceremonious  visit  on  the  morrow  to  the 
venerated  shrine  of  San  Gennaro,  a  telegram 
arrived  from  Chevalier  Canofari,  Neapolitan 
Envoy  at  Turin,  warning  his  Government  that 
Garibaldi  had  sailed.  The  uncertainty  to  the 
movements  of  the  expedition  prevented  any  con- 
crete plan  for  the  concentration  or  disposal  of 
the  naval  and  military  forces  of  the  Kingdom. 


206  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Would  the  two  steamers  seized  by  the  filibus- 
ters attempt  a  landing  on  the  Calabrian  coast, 
or  make  directly  for  Sicily  ?  The  fact  that 
Garibaldi  with  his  lieutenants,  Crispi,  Bertani, 
Bixio  and  Medici,  were  plotting  and  organizing 
the  expedition  at  Genoa,  was  of  course  known 
to  the  Neapolitan  police,  but  the  secret  of  the 
choice  of  a  landing  place  had  been  well  kept, 
or  was  rather  so  entirely  dependant  on  circum- 
stances impossible  to  foresee,  as  to  partake 
more  of  the  nature  of  expediency  or  sudden 
inspiration.  The  vessels  of  the  Neapolitan 
squadron  had  been  given  instructions  as  early 
as  April  twentieth  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  ; 
and  their  commanders  received  a  broad  official 
hint  not  to  hesitate  to  overhaul  suspicious 
strangers  flying  a  friendly  flag. 

Although  the  news  was  concealed  from  the 
public,  it  leaked  out  on  the  following  day 
when  the  French  mail  steamer  from  Genoa 
reached  Naples  ;  and  the  knowledge  that  Gari- 
baldi had  succeeded  in  evading  the  Piedmontese 
authorities,  who  it  was  feared  might  hesitate 
to  carry  complaisant  near-sightedness  to  the 
length  of  an  official  cecity  so  manifestly  a  vio- 
lation of  international  etiquette,  caused  the 
most  frantic  joy  amongst  the  Liberals. 

After  attending  the  religious  function,  for 
which  elaborate  preparations  had  been  made. 


TBE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  207 

Francis  sent  for  General  Filangieri,  and  com- 
municating the  news  to  him  without  apparent 
emotion  or  appreciation  of  its  significance, 
asked  the  old  statesman's  advice  Cfmcerning 
the  despatch  of  fresh  troops  to  Sicily. 

On  the  eleventh  the  telegraph  brought  the 
news  of  the  landing  of  Garibaldi  at  Marsala, 
and  the  "  Official  Journal"  which  had  ignored 
the  report  of  tlie  sailing  of  the  expedition,  in  an 
issue  a  couple  of  days  later  laconically  referred 
to  the  "  flagrant  act  of  piracy  which  was  con- 
summated on  the  eleventh  instant,  by  the 
landing  of  an  armed  forced  at  Marsala." 

While  persisting  in  representing  the  expedi- 
tion to  his  own  subjects  as  of  small  importance  ; 
the  raid  of  a  band  of  rapacious  brigands,  who 
burned  and  devastated  the  districts  they  over- 
ran ;  threatening,  bribing,  or  coercing  the 
peaceful  peasants  to  join  their  ranks,  Francis 
now  sufficiently  realized  the  gravity  of  the 
situation  to  make  an  urgent  protest  at  Turin, 
and  to  despatch  the  following  circular  to  all 
Neapolitan  diplomatic  representatives  abroad  : 
"  In  spite  of  communications  from  Turin,  and 
the  promise  of  that  Government  to  prevent  the 
expedition  openly  organized  and  armed  by 
brigands,  it  sailed  nevertheless,  under  the  very 
eyes  of  the  Sardinian  fleet,  and  yesterday  landed 
at  Marsala.     Inform  the  Government  to  which 


208  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

you  are  accredited  of  this  act  of  savage  piracy 
promoted  by  a  friendly  State." 

At  the  Council  of  State  held  in  Naples  on 
the  fourteenth,  to  which  Filangieri  had  been 
bidden,  and  at  which  the  Count  of  Aqaila  also 
assisted,  Sicilian  affairs  formed  the  sole  subject 
of  debate.  The  Cabinet  were  unanimous  in 
their  desire  that  Filangieri,  vested  with  plen- 
ary authority,  should  go  to  Sicily.  The  old 
General,  however,  refused,  putting  forward  his 
advanced  age,  and  the  physical  impossibility  of 
assuming  at  such  a  crisis  so  onerous  a  charge. 
In  vain  did  Francis  plead  that  again  the  Mon- 
archy would  be  indebted  to  him  for  the  preser- 
vation of  Sicily  ;  Filangieri  persisted  in  his 
refusal  to  undertake  the  operations,  although 
he  suggested  a  plan  of  campaign,  which  was 
accepted.  At  the  further  recommendation  of 
Filangieri,  General  Ferdinand  Lanza,  an  old 
Sicilian,  was  appointed  as  the  successor  of 
Prince  Castelcicala  ;  and  in  spite  of  his  remon- 
strances and  discouraging  prognostications, 
was  hurried  off  to  Palermo,  where,  on  the 
seventeenth,  he  assumed  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment and  the  command  of  the  troops  in  the 
island. 

Lanza  presented  himself  to  his  countrymen 
next  day,  armed  with  a  proclamation  redolent 
with  conciliatory  sentiment,  promises  of  moral 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  209 

and  material  ameliorations,  and  the  offer  of  a 
free  and  generous  pardon,  in  the  name  of  his 
Sovereign,  to  all  misguided  individuals  who 
should  now  make  act  of  submission  to  govern- 
mental authority.  Once  the  pacification  of  the 
island  accomplished,  he  was  authorized  to  state 
that  a  Prince  of  the  Royal  Family  had  already 
been  selected  to  reside  in  their  midst  as  Vice- 
roy. This  functionary  would  immediately 
begin  the  construction  of  roads,  railways,  and 
other  works  of  public  utility  ;  and  would  de- 
vote all  his  energies  to  the  development  of  the 
resources  and  industries  of  the  country,  as  well 
as  the  adoption  of  every  means  suggested  by 
experience  for  the  increase  of  general  prosper- 
ity. With  a  mild  warning  of  those  who  heeded 
the  dangerous  teachings  of  crafty  agitators, 
the  promulgator  called  upon  his  compatriots  to 
cast  in  their  lot  with  the  Royal  Troops,  under 
whose  protection  alone  they  would  find  sal- 
vation. 

Lanza  himself  could  have  had  but  little  faith 
that  the  anodyne  of  his  well-intentioned  but 
insipid  appeal  would  convince  the  impenitent 
insurrectionists,  flushed  with  the  strong  intoxi- 
cant of  success  ;  and  who  had,  moreover,  in 
times  gone  by  awaited  in  vain  the  execution 
of  the  provisions  of  so  many  similar  documents. 
Now  the  revered  Leader  was  actually  in  their 


210  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

midst,  and  his  undertaking  had  from  the  start 
been  crowned  with  tangible  results.  Even 
those  who  would  fain  have  still  hung  back,  or 
temporized,  were  drawn  forward  by  the  mag- 
netism of  the  man,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  their 
native  leaders.  The  evening  before  the  publi- 
cation of  his  proclamation  the  tidings  of  the  de- 
feat of  the  Royalists  at  Calatafirai  had  reached 
the  General.  He  forwarded  the  same  to  Naples 
in  a  gloomy  despatch  describing  the  condition 
of  the  island  as  most  alarming,  and  the  inhab- 
itants "  possessed  by  the  delirium  of  revolu- 
tion.*' 

Nor  could  the  "  alter  ego  "  of  the  King  of 
the  Two  Sicilies  pretend  to  ignore  the  very 
different  conditions  prevailing  between  the 
forces  which  now  confronted  each  other.  On 
the  one  hand  wild  enthusiasm  ;  bravery  amount- 
ing to  heroism  ;  an  apostolic  faith  in  the  cause 
they  served,  and  for  which  they  cheerfully 
sacrificed  their  lives.  On  the  other  side  an 
army  numerically  superior,  but  lacking  an 
Ideal  ;  devoid  of  the  stimulus  of  conviction  : 
an  army  which  bore  arms  professionally  in  the 
service  of  a  Sovereign  for  whom  they  personally 
felt  no  enthusiasm,  nor  even  the  mingled  fear 
and  respect  his  father  had  inspired.  Opposed 
to  them  was  a  leader  surrounded  with  the  halo 
of  legendary  invincibility,  whose  name  evoked 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  211 

recollections  of  the  fatal  retreat  of  Velletri :  a 
retreat  which,  as  De  Cesare  justly  remarks, 
'*had  imbued  the  Neapolitan  army  with  the 
conviction  of  its  impotency  to  combat  an  enemy 
who  knew  not  the  fear  of  death."  Unlike 
their  opponents  whose  commander's  word  was 
absolute  and  unquestioned  law  to  his  followers, 
the  Neapolitan  troops  were  led  by  officers  whose 
jealousies,  mutual  recriminations  and  accusa- 
tions of  treachery,  destroyed  the  confidence  of 
their  subordinates.  Add  to  this  the  knowledge 
that  the  Neapolitan  soldier  stood  alone,  while 
his  adversary  enjoyed  not  only  the  good  will  of 
the  native  population,  but  felt  himself  backed 
by  the  moral  approval  of  all  Italy,  and  the 
sympathies  of  Liberal  Europe. 

The  history  of  Garibaldi's  astounding  achieve- 
ments is  too  familiar  to  require  recording 
here.  On  May  twenty-seventh  the  General 
astonished  the  world  by  his  audacious  capture 
of  Palermo  ;  and  shortly  after  demonstrated  by 
the  conclusion  of  an  armistice,  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  of  which  eighteen  thousand 
Neapolitan  troops  evacuated  the  capital,  that 
the  loss  of  the  island  to  the  Crown  of  the  Two 
Sicilies  was  henceforth  inevitable,  if  not  already 
Tirtaally  an  accomplished  fact. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

CsTOur  and  the  Sicilian  expedition.— His  relations  with 
Oaribaldi.— Diplomatic  perils.— Garibaldi  a  Republican.— 
His  letter  to  Victor  Emmanuel.— Cavour  to  d'Azeglio  con- 
cerning expedition. — He  explains  position  of  Piedmont. — 
Cavour  is  blamed.— His  defence  of  his  policy.— A  Russian 
protest. — Cavour  and  European  Diplomacy. — Anecdotes 
from  his  private  correspondence. — His  relations  with  French 
and  English  politicians.— Louis  Napoleon's  entanglements. 

The  attitude  assumed  by  Count  Cavour  to- 
wards Garibaldi's  expedition,  although  not 
openly  antagonistic,  was  one  of  extreme  reserve, 
and  had  given  great  offence  to  the  ultra-Lib- 
erals, while  at  the  same  time  it  failed  to  satisfy 
the  Conservative  element.  The  former  made 
no  allowance  for  the  embarrassing  exigencies  of 
Diplomacy  ;  the  latter  witnessed  with  alarm  the 
thinly  concealed  collusion  of  the  King's  Govern- 
ment in  an  undertaking,  the  startling  illegal- 
ity of  which  must  needs  offend  the  susceptibil- 
ities of  Conservative  Europe.  The  Minister's 
conduct  of  affairs  was  certainly  open  to  mis- 
conception, and  severe  criticism  :  and  if  in- 
comprehensible to  Garibaldians,  and  as  such 
condemned  by  their  sympathizers,  must  be 
scored  in  unmeasured  terms  by  scandalized 
212 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  213 

Conservative  Chanceries.  Certain  it  is  the 
great  statesman  sailed  dangerously  near  the 
wind  on  more  than  one  occasion ;  while  the 
dust  he  threw  in  the  eyes  of  foreign  diploma- 
tists so  blinded  many  of  his  own  compatriots 
that  they  failed  to  credit  him  with  the  strict 
adherence  to  the  fundamental  principles  he  so 
adroitly  juggled  with.  Considerable  friction 
existed  between  the  Minister  and  the  General 
consequent  on  the  recent  territorial  cessions  to 
France,  which  Garibaldi  had  bitterly  de- 
nounced. On  his  side  Cavour  mistrusted  the 
generous  impetuosity  of  the  Free-Lance  and 
self-constituted  arbiter  of  the  political  destinies 
of  Southern  Italy ;  and  was  moreover  un- 
feignedly  apprehensive  of  the  influence  which 
might  be  exercised  over  him  by  associates,  the 
orthodoxy  of  whose  political  creed  was  dubious, 
and  who  might  be  assumed  to  prove  utterly 
callous  to  the  irksome  entanglements  of  the 
diplomatic  obligations  he  himself  was  con- 
strained to  propitiate,  if  not  strictly  observe. 
To  the  Unionists  at  all  costs  the  bid  for  the 
Neapolitan  alliance  seemed  to  destroy  the  only 
admissible  explanation  of  the  cession  of  Savoy 
and  Nice  ;  a  sacrifice,  they  argued,  might  have 
been  avoided  had  Cavour  played  off  English 
susceptibilities  against  French  ambitions ;  and 
it  consequently  became  a  matter  of  indifference 


214  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

whether  they  involved  the  Government  in 
foreign  complications  through  their  machina- 
tions in  the  Papal  and  Bourbon  States.  Maz- 
zini  had  written  Garibaldi  in  January  :  "I  ap- 
preciate the  times  :  I  yield  to  the  Nation :  I 
will  not  act  against  the  King,  I  will  not  con- 
spire for  the  Republic  ;  I  only  breathe  the  word 
'Unity* ;  I  aim  at  annexation  ;  at  successfully 
inciting  revolt  in  Sicily  and  elsewhere,  bargain- 
ing only  for  immediate  acceptance."  But  he 
included  in  this  programme  Rome  as  the  Na- 
tional capital  and  the  ousting  of  the  French  ; 
and  therein  lay  the  peril.  What  Mazzini  ad- 
vocated in  January,  Garibaldi  was  prepared  to 
execute  in  May.  The  *'Vou8  voil4  nos  com- 
plices" gleefully  uttered  by  Cavour  when  the 
French  Plenipotentiary  affixed  his  signature 
to  the  treaty  of  March  twenty-fourth,  might 
be  interpreted  as  the  implied  recognition  of  a 
certain  license  in  the  Sicilian  question,  but 
could  not  possibly  be  stretched  into  a  reference 
to  Rome. 

La  Farina,  who  labored  to  allay  the  suspi- 
cions lurking  in  Cavour's  mind,  concerning  the 
orthodoxy  of  Garibaldi's  political  creed  and 
loyalty,  informed  the  Minister  on  April  twenty- 
fourth  that  his  fears  of  Mazzini's  influence 
were  needless,  since  a  '*  pronounced  discord  " 
existed  between  the  General  and  the  celebrated 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  215 

agitator.  Yet  this  disagreement  was  but  a 
passing  one,  and  in  spite  of  Mazzini's  renun- 
ciation of  his  personal  preferences,  Cavour 
considered  that  he  had  good  ground  for  his 
misgivings  as  to  the  depth  and  sincerity  of  the 
monarchical  convictions  of  the  late  Republi- 
cans. 

An  anecdote  related  by  Aurelio  Bellisomi 
gives  color  to  the  suspicion  of  temporary  sub- 
servience to  a  political  expedient,  entertained 
by  Cavour.  On  April  twentieth  an  applicant 
for  enrollment  in  the  proposed  expedition, 
asked  Garibaldi  whether  it  would  not  be  pos- 
sible to  omit  the  arms  of  the  House  of  Savoy 
from  the  banner  under  the  aegis  of  which  it 
was  designed  to  combat.  *'  My  son,^'  he  re- 
plied, "  you  are  aware  that  I  am  as  much  of  a 
Republican  as  you  are  ;  but  you  must  make 
the  same  sacrifice  I  do,  because  it  is  necessary 
for  Italian  Unity."  That  Garibaldi  never 
wavered  for  an  instant,  his  loyal  allegiance 
once  spontaneously  offered,  became  evident  in 
the  sequel ;  at  the  same  time  the  above  con- 
versation, which  is  quoted  by  White  Mario  * 
affords  partial  justification  of  Cavour's  misap- 
prehensions, for  which  he  has  been  so  roughly 
handled  by  the  more  enthusiastic  biographers 
of  the  Garibaldian  heroes. 

*  "  Agostino  Bertani  e  i  suoi  Tempi." 


216  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Nothing  more  frank  and  loyal  than  Gari- 
baldi^s  farewell  address  to  Victor  Emmanuel, 
as  the  expedition  sailed  from  Quarto  could 
well  be  desired. 

"1  did  not  counsel  the  insurrectionary 
movement  of  my  brothers  in  Sicily/'  he  wrote, 
"but  the  moment  they  rose  in  the  name  of 
Italian  Unity,  of  which  Your  Majesty  is  the 
personification,  against  the  most  infamous 
tyranny  of  oar  epoch,  I  did  not  hesitate  to 
place  myself  at  the  head  of  the  expedition. 
Our  war-cry  will  ever  be  :  '  Long  live  Italian 
Unity  :  Long  live  Victor  Emmanuel,  its  fore- 
most and  bravest  soldier  ! ' " 

Two  days  after  the  departure  (nominally  if 
not  effectively  clandestine)  of  *'  The  Tliousand" 
Cavour  forwarded  to  the  Marquis  d'Azeglio, 
his  intimate  friend  and  confidante,  as  well  as 
official  representative  in  London,  a  letter  in 
which  his  position  is  so  clearly  outlined  that  it 
seems  permissible  to  transcribe  it  in  its  entirety. 
Dated  from  Turin,  on  May  eighth,  1860, 
whither  he  had  hurriedly  returned  from  Bo- 
logna on  receipt  of  the  news,  Cavour  writes  : 
"  The  events  in  Sicily  have  decided  me  to 
depart  from  the  reserve  which  I  had  assumed 
vis-^-vis  the  English  Government  in  con- 
sequence of  the  sentiment  of  distrust  which 
the  affair  of  Savoy  had  unfortunately  kindled 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  217 

against  us  in  England.  Whatever  the  differ- 
ence of  views  which  manifested  themselves  on 
this  occasion  between  the  Ministers  of  Her 
Britannic  Majesty  and  myself,  a  difference  I 
sincerely  deplore,  it  seems  to  me  indubitable 
that  England  and  Sardinia  have,  as  concerns 
Sicily,  but  one  and  the  same  interest.  In 
reality  (as  you  have  frequently  had  occasion  to 
repeat  to  Lord  Palmerston  and  Lord  John 
(Russell)  we  have  no  other  aim  than  that  of 
restoring  Italy  to  the  Italians  ;  of  founding  on 
a  real  and  durable  basis  the  independence  of 
the  Peninsula ;  and  of  freeing  it  from  all  moral 
as  well  as  material  subjection.  We  ceded 
Savoy  and  Nice  only  because,  rightly  or 
wrongly,  we  are  convinced  that  those  districts 
cannot  bo  considered  integrally  as  of  Italian 
nationality.  But  (as  I  hastened  to  inform  you 
by  telegraph)  we  would  not  yield  one  inch  of 
Italian  territory  no  matter  what  advantages 
might  be  offered  with  the  exchange.  You  can 
consequently  absolutely  deny  the  absurd  rumor 
relative  to  the  cession  of  Genoa,  or  any  other 
portion  of  Lignria,  to  France.  Lord  Palmer- 
ston and  Lord  John  have  too  much  clairvoyance 
not  to  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  this  declara- 
tion. By  the  treaty  of  March  ^Uh  we  sought 
to  deprive  France  of  all  pretexts  for  hindering 
the  furtherance  of  our  policy  in  Italy.    I  hope 


218  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

to  have  succeeded :  at  least  as  far  as  Sicily  is 
concerned,  where  nobody  dreams  of  Muratism.  * 
But  if  the  agreement  with  France  costs  us  such 
efforts  and  sacrifices,  the  understanding  with 
England  should  be  quite  a  matter  of  course 
and  almost  self-evident.  I  am  too  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  existing  principles  in  Eng- 
lish politics  to  credit  the  old  stagers  who  at- 
tribute to  Lord  Palraerston  designs  for  the 
conquest  of  Sicily,  and  of  the  project  of  turn- 
ing the  island  into  a  fief  under  an  English  pro- 
tectorate. In  Sicily,  as  in  Central  Italy,  Eng- 
land can  have  but  one  object  :  to  leave  the 
Italians  masters  to  decide  their  destiny  ;  to 
prevent  any  foreign  intervention  or  influence. 
This  is  just  what  we  desire  ;  for,  I  repeat  it,  I 
am  first  of  all  an  Italian,  and  it  is  in  order  that 
my  country  may  enjoy  *'  self-government"  *  * 
at  home  and  abroad,  that  I  have  undertaken 
the  arduous  task  of  driving  Austria  out  of 
Italy,  without  substituting  the  domination  of 
any  other  Power.  You  will  be  careful  there- 
fore to  explain  to  Lord  Palmerston  that,  in  the 
Sicilian  affair,  we  desire  first  of  all  to  put  our- 
selves in  perfect  accord  with  England.  We 
did  not  encourage  Garibaldi  to  embark  upon 
this  adventure,  which  appeared  to  us  foolhardy. 

♦The  italics  do  not  exist  in  the  original  text. 
*  *  The  words  are  in  Ehiglish  in  the  originaL 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  219' 

We  regretted  the  precipitation  which  causes  us 
the  most  cruel  embarrassment,  and  which  muy 
dangerously  compromise  the  future  of  Italy. 
Nevertheless  we  respected  the  highly  honorable 
motives  which  inspired  his  audacious  resolu- 
tion, and  we  did  not  consider  ourselves  authorized 
to  prevent  by  force  efforts  which  aimed  at  amel- 
iorating the  fate  of  the  Sicilians.  If  Gari- 
baldi succeeds  ;  if  the  great  majority  of  Sicilians 
cluster  around  him  ;  we  only  ask  for  them  the 
full  liberty  of  deciding  their  destiny  ;  of  making 
of  the  independence  they  have  acquired  the  usage 
which  seems  to  them  most  advisable.  *  I  hasten 
to  give  you  these  explanations.  In  communi- 
cating them  to  Lord  Palmerston,  and  Lord 
John,  you  will  add,  my  dear  Marquis,  that  in 
order  to  satisfy  the  pressing  solicitations  of 
Russia,  I  had  inserted  in  the  "  Official  Gazette" 
of  to-day  an  article  which  refutes  the  rumors  of 
the  complicity  of  the  Government  of  the  King 
in  Garibaldi's  expedition."  *  * 

As  was  to  be  expected,  however,  European 
Diplomacy  saddled  Cavour  with  the  moral 
responsibility  of  Garibaldi's  action ;  charging 
the  Piedmontese  Government  with  tacit  com- 
plicity, if  not  active  participation  in  the  enter- 

•The  italics  do  not  exist  in  the  original. 
*  *Nicomede  Bianchi  "  La  Politique  du  Ck>mte  de 
Cavour." 


220  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

prise.  But  although  the  various  Cabinets 
stormed  and  vigorously  protested,  the  policy  of 
non-intervention  was  not  departed  from.  It 
was  speedily  manifest,  moreover,  that  public 
opinion  throughout  Europe  (and  especially  in 
England)  did  not  concur  with  the  oflBcial 
world  in  its  scandalized  condemnation  of  so 
flagrant  a  breach  of  neighborly  relations. 
Occurring  between  States  of  a  common  na- 
tionality, whose  political  division  was  consid- 
ered by  many  an  anomaly,  and  by  those  profess- 
ing the  sacred  principles  of  consanguinity 
loudly  proclaimed  a  detrimental  anachronism, 
the  **  international "  aspect  of  the  incident 
appealed  no  more  strongly  to  the  general  public 
than  had  the  recent  events  enacted  in  Tuscany 
and  the  Duchies. 

But  if  public  opinion  viewed  with  leniency 
an  episode,  the  chivalrous  character  of  which 
powerfully  appealed  to  the  imagination,  the 
oflBcial  world  was  less  inclined  to  condone  the 
triumph  of  a  revolutionary  movement,  the 
threatened  extension  of  which  must  inevitably 
entail  a  shifting  of  the  existing  political  equilib- 
rium, by  the  foundation  of  a  new  Great  Power 
on  the  ruins  of  the  petty  sovereignties  of  Italy  : 
a  probability  not  to  be  contemplated  without 
concern. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  man  that  Oavoar 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  221 

unhesitatingly  accepted  a  situation  not  of  his 
own  making,  seeking  the  furtherance  of  his 
fundamental  policy  in  spite  of  the  new  dangers 
and  complications  which  surrounded  him,  with 
a  skill  and  patience  which  compelled  the  admira- 
tion of  the  more  broad-minded  of  his  opponents. 
Without  repudiating  Garibaldi,  an  action  which 
would  have  destroyed  his  personal  influence 
with  the  Liberals  and  Nationalists,  and  unques- 
tionably, in  view  of  the  rapid  and  complete 
success  of  the  expedition,  have  lost  Victor 
Emmanuel  his  popularity,  while  it  might  even 
have  menaced  the  existence  of  the  Dynasty,  he 
contrived  to  turn  the  tables  on  the  more  im- 
portunate of  his  accusers,  if  not  by  convincing 
logic,  at  least  by  arguments,  the  magnificent 
audacity  of  which  engendered  plausibility. 
Cleverly  brandishing  the  dread  spectre  of  the 
Republic,  or  Anarchy,  before  the  eyes  of  mon- 
archical Europe,  should  Victor  Emmanuel  at- 
tempt to  restrain  the  explosion  of  righteous 
indignation  against  the  systematic  tyranny  of 
the  Neapolitan  Bourbons,  he  turned  upon  Aus- 
tria and  England  with  the  sarcastic  query  : 
**  By  what  right  is  Sardinia  accused  of  not 
having  prevented  the  landing  of  the  audacious 
adventurer  in  Sicily  when  the  whole  Neapolitan 
fleet  was  incapable  of  doing  so  ?  While  Aus- 
trians  and  Irish  embark  without  hindrance  at 


222  TEE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Trieste,  in  order  to  flock  to  the  defeuee  of  the 
Pope  ;  how  could  the  Sardinian  Government, 
even  if  cognizant  of  it,  prevent  Sicilian  ezilee 
from  aiding  their  own  brothers  in  the  struggle 
against  their  oppressors  ?  " 

From  distant  Russia  the  voice  of  Prince 
Gortchakoff  thundered  forth  the  threat  that,  as 
the  Government  of  Turin  avowedly  found  itself 
dominated  by  the  revolutionary  element  to  the 
extent  of  being  driven  to  the  disregard  of  inter- 
national obligations,  all  European  States  should 
combine  for  a  mutual  regulation  of  their  rela- 
tions with  Piedmont :  adding  that  "  did  the 
geographical  position  of  his  realm  not  forbid, 
the  Tzar  would  lend  armed  assistance  to  the 
Neapolitan  Bourbons,  without  regard  to  the 
policy  of  non-intervention  proclaimed  by  the 
Western  Powers.'*  To  these  continued  re- 
monstrances and  threats  Cavour  replied  :  **  We 
cannot  be  less  Italian  than  the  English  and 
French,  who  openly  aid  Garibaldi's  expedition. 
Not  one  of  the  vessels  sailing  recently  for 
Sicily  was  under  the  Sardinian  flag  :  the  greater 
number  displayed  the  American  ensign."  The 
attitude  of  Prussia  was  hardly  less  alarming 
than  that  of  Austria  and  the  great  Northern 
Empire,  but  to  France  and  England  Cavour 
looked  with  most  anxiety  for  the  possible  check- 
mate in  the  game  so  boldly  undertaken.     Ap- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  223 

preciating  that  concertive  action  between  the 
three  first  named  States  was  an  eventnality  go 
remote  that  he  could  legitimately  discount  the 
risks,  he  continued  to  fence  with  such  cleverly 
intermingled  audacity  and  cunning,  that  before 
the  bewildered  diplomatists  had  unravelled  the 
import  of  an  ambiguous  declaration,  they  found 
themselves  confronted  with  fresh  entangle- 
ments which  kept  them  busy  until  the  Minister's 
projects  had  become  accomplished  facts. 

The  progress  of  events  was  so  rapid  that,  on 
June  twenty-fifth,  little  more  than  five  weeks 
after  the  landing  of  the  expedition,  Cavour, 
referring  in  a  private  letter  to  the  proposed 
intercession  to  dissuade  Garibaldi  from  crossing 
to  Calabria,  remarks :  "  We  will  second  as  far 
as  the  continent  is  concerned  for  the  Maca- 
roni is  not  yet  cooked ;  but  as  for  the 
oranges  which  are  already  on  our  table,  we 
are  quite  decided  to  eat  them/' 

That  the  oranges  were  within  his  grasp 
was  due  to  France  and  England.  The  attitude 
of  England  in  regard  to  the  annexation  of 
Tuscany  and  the  Romagna  offered  a  reassuring 
guarantee  as  to  her  probable  action  in  South- 
ern Italy,  which  indeed  Lord  John  Russell 
foreshadowed  in  the  significant  despatch  of 
May  fifth  to  the  British  Ambassador  at  Vienna, 
Lord    Lof  tus.     ''  If    tyranny    and    injustice 


224  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

are  the  characteristic  traits  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Southern  Italy,"  he  remarks,  **  those 
of  the  Government  of  Northern  Italy  are 
liberty  and  justice.  This  being  the  case, 
sooner  or  later  the  populations  of  Southern 
Italy  will  be  politically  united  to  their  brothers 
of  the  North,  and  will  wish  to  be  ruled  by  the 
same  Sovereign.  ..."  As  a  matter  of  fact 
England  was  deeply  concerned  with  but  two 
eventualities  which  mi^ht  emanate  from  the 
existing,  or  future,  complications  in  the  Penin- 
snla :  firstly,  the  re-opening  of  hostilities  be- 
tween Austria  and  Piedmont ;  and  secondly,  the 
temptation  offered  Cavour,  by  reason  of  the 
enormous  difficulties  surrounding  him,  to  pur- 
chase the  aid  of  France  with  further  territorial 
concessions,  especially  that  of  the  island  of 
Sardinia.  The  Count's  letters  to  D'Azeglio  are 
full  of  fervent  disclaimers  of  the  reports 
crediting  the  Government  with  such  intentions, 
and  indignantly  proclaim  that,  regardless  of 
consequences,  not  another  inch  of  Italian  soil 
will  be  yielded.  Once  this  suspicion  satisfac- 
torily dispelled.  Great  Britain  was  willing 
enough  to  allow  matters  to  follow  their  natural 
course  ;  and  not  adverse,  on  occasion,  to  allow- 
ing it  to  be  implied  that  Garibaldi  enjoyed, 
within  certain  limits,  the  good-will  of  English 
statesmanship,  as  represented  in  Lord  Palmer- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  225 

ston's  Cabinet.  Of  the  sympathy  of  British 
public  opinion  there  had  been,  and  was,  no 
room  for  doubt. 

With  France  the  negotiations  were  of  a  more 
delicate  nature,  in  spite  of  the  "complicity" 
which  Cavour  assumed  was  created  with  the 
signature  of  treaty  of  March  twenty-fourth. 
The  Peace  of  Villafranca  had  imbued  Italians 
with  an  irresistible  longing  for  National  Unity, 
and  the  Emperor,  Napoleon  III.,  was  responsi- 
ble for  Villafranca  in  the  eyes  of  all  Italians. 
He  was,  moreover,  bound  by  subtle  and  numer- 
ous personal  ties  to  the  Italian  cause.  Al- 
though the  political  union  of  the  Peninsula 
must  prove  unacceptable  to  those  statesmen 
who  foresaw  with  its  achievement  the  inevi- 
table decline  of  French  influence,  yet  the 
Emperor  (whose  politics  were  not  by  any 
means  always  in  harmony  with  those  of  the 
majority)  could  not  consistently  retract  a  pol- 
icy whose  fundamental  lines  were  based  on 
the  extension  of  the  principle  of  national- 
ities, and  for  the  defence  of  which  the  blood 
of  his  soldiers  had  been  so  recently  shed.  Of 
this  Cavour  felt  reasonably  convinced  ;  yet  the 
vehement  protestations  from  Paris  called  forth 
by  Garibaldi's  action  were  disconcerting.  Un- 
doubtedly Napoleon  III.  viewed  with  disap- 
proval this  wholesale  annexation,  together  with 
15 


226  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

the  probable  disappearance  of  the  Southern 
Kingdom  ;  yet  the  current  which  threatened 
to  sweep  Victor  Emmanuel  and  Cavour  aside 
should  they  resist  its  impetus,  had  so  entangled 
Louis  Napoleon  in  its  eddies  and  whirlpools 
that  he  too  must  needs  follow  the  stream. 
"  What  can  be  done  with  a  Government  like 
that  of  Naples,  which  obstinately  refuses  to 
heed  advice  ?  "  he  remarked  evasively  to  those 
who  sought  his  opinion  on  the  situation.  And 
later,  when  Francis  in  desperation  sent  his 
envoys  to  Paris  to  plead  for  intercession  :  "It 
is  not  to  me  you  should  have  come,  but  to 
Victor  Emmanuel.  Sardinia  alone  can  check 
the  course  of  the  revolution." 

Under  these  circumstances,  while  Cavour 
groaned  beneath  their  protestations,  and  dis- 
comfited the  querulous  diplomatists  with  enig- 
matic refutations,  he  plodded  stolidly  towards 
his  goal ;  always  seeking  to  gnide  the  tumultu- 
ous revolutionary  flood  into  the  quieter  chan- 
nels of  Diplomacy,  through  which  he  was  con- 
fident of  accomplishing  his  ends,  if  more 
tediously,  at  least  with  greater  immunity  from 
the  risk  of  possible  shipwreck. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Ajudety  at  Naples.— Filangieri's  counsels.— He  leaves  Naples.— 
Francis  sends  De  Martino  to  Paris.— His  reception  by  French 
Emperor.— The  Emperor's  advice  and  warning.— The  "  Cam- 
arilla's" accusations.- Francis  grants  Constitution.— The 
Pojje  antagonistic  to  Piedmontese  alliance. — The  Franchise 
coldly  received  by  Liberals.— Riots  in  Naples. — The  applica- 
tion for  alliance. — Cavour's  embarrassments.— His  condi- 
tions.— Arrival  of  Neapolitan  Envoys  at  Turin. — Their  de- 
mands.— Victor  Emmanuel  writes  Garibaldi. — The  OeneraJ 
refuses  obedience. — Cavour  confides  to  D'Azeglio  details 
of  his  policy. 

Meanwhile  at  Naples  Garibaldi's  acliieve- 
ments  were  watched  with  growing  concern, 
while  the  revolutionary  mutterings  echoed 
from  Calabria  and  the  southeastern  provinces 
of  the  continent  became  a  source  of  further 
apprehension  in  Court  and  Governmental  cir- 
cles. A  Council  of  State  assembled  on  May 
thirteenth  to  study  the  situation  and  devise 
expedients.  Besides  the  King,  several  mem- 
bers of  the  Royal  Family,  and  the  regularly 
accredited  officials,  Filangieri  was  present. 
When  called  upon  for  his  opinion,  the  old 
statesman  affirmed  that  his  views  had  under- 
gone no  change,  and  that  he  could  only  reiter- 
ate his  former  advice.  His  belief  was  that  the 
227 


228  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

policy  hitherto  pursued  must  be  reversed  ; 
Austrian  influences  be  discarded,  and  a  "rap- 
prochement "attempted  with  France  ;  a  course 
he  considered  obviously  dictated  by  the  lessons 
of  Magenta  and  Solferino.  Furthermore,  he 
advocated  the  concession  of  a  Constitution  and 
the  acceptance  of  the  proposal  to  occupy  the 
States  of  the  Church,  as  far  north  as  Perugia 
and  Ancona.  He  also  proposed  that  an  envoy 
be  despatched  to  Paris  to  seek  to  obtain  from 
the  Emperor  the  necessary  guarantees  for  the 
integral  preservation  of  the  Kingdom,  or  at 
least,  as  he  prudently  but  significantly  added, 
of  the  continental  provinces.  To  General  Car- 
rascosa,  who  insinuated  that  had  he,  Filangieri, 
accepted  the  mission  to  Sicily,  when  so  urged 
by  the  King  on  April  fourth,  the  Royal  cause 
would  to-day  have  been  triumphant  in  the 
island,  the  veteran  sadly  objected  :  "  You  are 
mistaken.  General.  When  I  left  Sicily  on  Sep- 
tember 30,  1854,  I  carried  away  with  me  the 
conviction  that  the  system  of  government  Cas- 
siui  was  endeavoring  to  enforce  on  that  coun- 
try would  sooner  or  later  entail  its  loss  to  the 
Neapolitan  Monarchy.'' 

During  the  heated  debate  which  followed  be- 
tween the  party  which  approved  concessions  and 
a  radical  change  of  policy  (not  from  convic- 
tion,   but   by  virtue    of   necessity),  and  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  229 

ultra-Conservatives,  adverse  to  the  slightest 
departure  from  the  old  system,  Francis  main- 
tained the  impassive  fatalism  so  deeply  rooted 
in  his  nature.  Convinced  that  France,  Eng- 
land, and  Piedmont  had  decreed  the  extinc- 
tion of  his  Dynasty,  he  saw  in  Garibaldi  the 
tool,  and  behind  him  recognized  the  guiding 
forces  which  would  encompass  the  ruin  of  his 
House. 

Although  Filangieri's  proposals  could  not  be 
accepted  unanimously,  they  were  favorably  con- 
sidered by  a  majority  of  those  present,  who 
perceived  that  in  the  execution  of  these  previ- 
sions alone  lay  any  reasonable  hope  of  salvation. 
A  diplomatic  council,  which  followed  imme- 
diately, was  attended  by  the  English,  French, 
and  Spanish  representatives.  Of  these  Carafa 
begged  their  good  oflBces  to  induce  Garibaldi 
to  provide  for  an  honorable  evacuation  of  Pa- 
lermo by  the  Neapolitan  forces,  then  practi- 
cally at  his  mercy. 

Three  days  later  Francis  again  summoned 
Filangieri,  who  then  learnt  that  the  strategical 
plans,  prepared  by  him  for  the  military  opera- 
tions in  Sicily,  had  been  discarded  and  another, 
preferred  by  Nnnziante,  adopted  in  its  stead. 
This  latter,  which  included  the  bombardment 
at  Palermo,  he  emphatically  denounced.  Al- 
though again  consulted  by  the  King  concern- 


280  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

ing  the  advisability  of  a  return  to  the  Consti- 
tution of  1848,  which  he  advocated,  Filangieri, 
convinced  that  his  advice,  although  solicited, 
was  unheeded,  and  unwilling  to  witness  the 
catastrophe  he  felt  was  now  unavoidable,  left 
Naples  and  sought  refuge  in  France.  While 
he  returned  to  his  native  city  shortly  after 
the  collapse  of  the  Dynasty  he  had  so  faith- 
fully served,  he  refused  all  honors  or  emol- 
uments at  the  hands  of  the  new  Government ; 
not  from  animosity,  or  even  regret  for  that 
which  was  lost,  but  prompted  by  a  quiet  dig- 
nity which  gained  him  the  esteem  of  all  parties. 
He  passed  away  in  1867,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of 
eighty-three  ;  to  the  last  a  noble  example  of 
the  virtues  of  the  ideal  soldier  ;  steadfast  to  his 
allegiance,  to  his  military  oath,  and  to  the  ob- 
ligations of  patriotism,  in  spite  of  personal 
opinions,  or  preferences. 

The  deliberations  of  the  Council  of  State 
of  May  thirtieth  resulted  in  the  decision  of 
Francis  to  address  himself  personally  to  the 
Emperor  of  the  French.  On  June  sixth  he 
wrote  declaring  himself  ready  to  grant  a  Con- 
stitution, provided  the  Emperor  would  guar- 
antee the  autonomy  of  the  Kingdom  and  the 
preservation  of  the  Dynasty.  Chevalier  de 
Martino,  at  that  period  Neapolitan  Envoy  at 
the  Papal  Court,  was  selected  to  undertake 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  231 

this  delicate  mission,  concerning  the  snccesa 
of  which  even  the  most  sanguine  demurred. 
*'  If  you  allow  some  months  to  elapse  without 
giving  your  adherence  to  my  friendly  sugges- 
tion. Your  Majesty  will  understand  the  bitter- 
ness of  those  terrible  words  :  '  Too  late,*  .  .  .** 
had  been  the  prophetic  utterance  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  but  a  couple  of  months  earlier. 
Francis  was  now  about  to  drink  of  that  bitter- 
ness to  the  dregs,  and  to  reap  the  harvest  of 
his  own  folly,  and  the  years  of  persecution  and 
barbarous  oppression  of  his  perjured  prede- 
cessors. 

On  reaching  Paris  the  Chevalier  de  Martino, 
together  with  the  Neapolitan  Envoy  accredited 
to  the  Imperial  Court,  immediately  sought  an 
audience  with  the  Emperor.  This  was  granted 
next  day  (June  12)  at  Fontainebleau,  and  the 
prolonged  conversation  which  ensued  between 
Napoleon  III.  and  his  Minister,  M.  de  Thou- 
venel,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  two  Neapolitans 
on  the  other,  left  no  illusions  in  the  minds  of 
the  unfortunate  diplomatists  as  to  the  fate  in 
store  for  their  royal  master. 

The  Emperor  began  by  deploring  the  events 
which  had  taken  place  in  the  Kingdom,  and 
expressed  his  regret  that  his  disinterested  ad- 
vice had  been  so  long  unheeded.  Having  read 
the  letter  from  the  King  to  the  Two  Sicilies, 


282  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Napoleon  III.  echoed  the  words  of  Victor 
Emmanuel :  "  It  is  too  late.*'  A  month  ago 
I  might  have  been  able  to  arrange  everything ; 
now  it  is  too  late.  France  is  in  a  difficult  posi- 
tion. Revolutions  are  not  restrained  by  words, 
and,  at  this  moment,  the  revolution  not  only 
exists,  but  is  triumphant.  The  Italians  are 
cunning,  and  they  realize  full  well  that  after 
having  given  the  blood  of  my  children  for  their 
National  cause,  I  will  never  turn  my  guns 
against  them.  It  is  this  conviction  which  has 
brought  about  the  revolution  ;  the  annexation 
of  Tuscany ;  in  spite  of  me,  and  contrary  to 
my  interests.  They  will  treat  you  in  the  same 
way." 

The  Neapolitan  Envoys,  endeavoring  to  con- 
vince the  Emperor  that  his  interests  were  iden- 
tical with  their  own,  lost  no  opportunity  of 
painting  the  political  future  of  the  Peninsula 
in  the  darkest  hues.  They  argued  that  Sicily 
could  not  possibly  be  retained  permanently  by 
Piedmont,  and  was  consequently  inevitably 
doomed  to  be  included  within  the  sphere  of 
English  influence — probably  engulfed  by  Per- 
fidious Albion,  under  the  guise  of  a  protector- 
ate. To  all  such  prospects  Napoleon  remained 
apparently  indifferent,  merely  reiterating  his 
advice  that  Francis  lose  no  time  in  accepting 
the  proffered  alliance  with    Piedmont ;    and 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  233 

warning  his  hearers  that  only  by  adapting  his 
policy  to  the  National  aspirations,  could  their 
Sovereign  expect  to  stem  the  current,  unless, 
indeed,  he  was  strong  enough  to  circumscribe 
and  stamp  out  the  revolution  within  his 
borders.  In  vain  did  the  Neapolitans  argue 
and  protest ;  Napoleon  met  protest  and  argu- 
ment with  the  same  objections  :  *'A11  this  may 
be  true  enough,  but  we  are  now  brought  face 
to  face  with  accomplished  facts.  The  force  of 
public  opinion  is  invincible  :  the  position  of 
France  is  no  longer  that  of  1849  :  on  this  ac- 
count we  do  not  desire  the  annexation  which 
is  contrary  to  our  interests,  and  we  counsel  the 
only  practical  means  of  avoiding,  or  at  least 
retarding  it.  But  an  irresistible  pressure  is 
working  against  us :  a  force  to  which  we  must 
yield.  Accede  to  the  exigencies  of  the  moment. 
The  National  cause  must  triumph.  Sacrifice 
everything  to  this  idea  in  one  way  or  another. 
I  don't  discuss  the  means  by  which  it  may  be 
found  possible  to  solve  all  the  objections  which 
exist ;  but  I  tell  you  to  do  it,  and  do  it  quickly. 
To-morrow  it  will  be  too  late.  In  this  case  my 
loyal  and  sincere  support  will  be  assured  you  ; 
otherwise  I  shall  be  obliged  to  stand  aloof  and 
allow  Italy  to  act  by  herself.  The  principle  of 
non-intervention,  sealed  with  the  blood  of 
France,  will  be  maintained." 


234  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

These  utterances,  almost  brutal  in  their 
frankness,  were  hardly  capable  of  misconstruc- 
tion, and  the  unfortunate  Envoys  fully  realized 
that  their  cause  was  lost.  Yet  they  pleaded 
that  a  word  from  the  Emperor,  if  spoken  with 
firmness  and  decision,  could  still  arrest  the  rev- 
olutionary tide  emanating  from  Turin  ;  and 
they  further  urged,  not  without  reason,  that 
if  the  principles  of  universal  non-intervention 
be  enforced,  steps  should  be  taken  to  prevent 
Piedmont  from  covertly  aiding  and  abetting 
the  revolution.  Although  the  Emperor  prom- 
ised that  he  would  use  his  good  oflBces  at 
Turin,  he  held  out  small  prospect  of  success. 
"  Of  what  use  is  it  ! "  he  exclaimed  impatiently, 
"  Cavour  himself  is  overwhelmed.'*  In  Na- 
poleon's opinion  Cavour  was,  in  truth,  most 
apprehensive  lest  the  revolution,  with  its  in- 
evitable excesses  and  irresponsible  plunges  into 
the  unknown,  drag  down  to  destruction  the 
labors  of  his  patient  diplomacy. 

In  his  detailed  report  of  this  most  important 
conversation,  Antonini,  the  Resident  Neapolitan 
Envoy  at  Paris,  adds  that  Thouvenel  made  no 
attempt  to  conceal  his  animosity.  He  further 
states  that  during  a  discussion  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  the  royal  arms  achieving  a  re-conquest 
of  Sicily,  the  French  Foreign  Minister  gratui- 
tously affronted  them  with  the  insinuation  that. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  236 

were  such  a  course  attempted,  it  was  "  doubt- 
ful whether  Europe  could  remain  an  impassive 
spectator  to  the  cruelty  of  our  soldiers." 

The  contents  of  Antonini^s  despatches  were 
not  calculated  to  re-assure  the  Neapolitan 
Court ;  yet,  as  had  been  the  case  with  the  re- 
ports from  Sicily,  the  "Camarilla'*  accused 
the  diplomatist  with  coloring  the  tenor  of  the 
Emperor's  conversation,  for  the  purpose  of 
frightening  and  coercing  the  King.  Even 
Antonini's  disclaimer  in  his  second  report  :  **I 
trust  the  justice  will  be  rendered  me  that  I 
have  never  sought  to  arouse  false  hopes,"  was 
characterized  as  gross  and  interested  exaggera- 
tion, by  the  blinded  adherents  to  the  traditions 
of  the  old  regime.  The  intrigues,  and  mali- 
cious accusations  of  the  "  Camarilla,"  together 
with  the  mysterious  conferences  between  that 
new-fledged  Liberal,  his  uncle,  the  Count  of 
Aquila,  and  Brenier,  the  French  Envoy,  in- 
creased the  doubts  and  perplexities  of  the 
King. 

All  Europe  awaited,  with  conflicting  sen- 
timents, the  issue  of  the  strange  drama  being 
enacted  at  Naples.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
fierce  and  bigoted  reactionary  policy  of  the  **  Ca- 
marilla," headed  by  the  Queen  Mother  ;  on  the 
other,  two  of  the  King's  uncles  rivalling  each 
other  in   their  spontaneous   professions  of  a 


236  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Liberalism  profoundly  antagonistic  to  the  tra- 
ditions of  their  race.  An  hereditary  Despot, 
distraught  midst  the  counsels  of  foreign  ad- 
visers ;  the  menaces  of  an  increasingly  strong 
political  party  ;  half  his  Kingdom  snatched  from 
him  by  an  audacious  filibuster  in  the  name  of 
Greater  Piedmont — of  Italy  !  and  the  dawning 
conviction  that  the  other  half  was  tottering  on 
the  brink,  requiring  but  a  touch  to  precipitate 
to  destruction  the  Dynasty  which  had  in  spite 
of  a  century  and  a  quarter  of  enforced  alle- 
giance held  no  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 
By  granting  under  the  stress  of  disaster  that 
which  he  ought  to  have  inaugurated  his  reign 
by  pontaneously  proclaiming,  Francis,  like  his 
relative  Louis  XVI.  of  France,  showed  his  per- 
sonal weakness  and  the  rottenness  of  the  ob- 
solete institutions  which  alone  upheld  his 
Throne.  The  Constitution  wrenched  from  him 
on  June  twenty-fifth  now  merely  hastened  the 
catastrophe,  rendered  inevitable  by  the  suicidal 
policy  persistently  pursued  during  the  first 
thirteen  months  of  his  reign. 

The  promulgation  of  the  Sovereign  Act,  as 
the  cession  of  liberal  institutions  was  termed, 
was  finally  decided  in  a  combined  State  and 
Family  council  held  in  the  Palace  at  Portici, 
on  June  twenty-first,  which  included  all  those 
who  had  participated  in  the  conference  of  May 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  237 

thirty-first,  excepting  Filangieri.  This  assem- 
blage decided  by  a  majority  of  eight  out  of  four- 
teen votes,  to  recommend  the  King  to  follow 
the  advice  offered  by  Napoleon  III.,  namely  :  a 
liberal  Constitution  for  Naples  ;  special  institu- 
tions for  Sicily  ;  and  the  alliance  with  Piedmont. 
The  King  had  not  assisted  at  the  discussions 
of  the  Council.  When  informed  of  the  result 
of  its  deliberations  he  signified  his  acquiescence, 
but,  with  characteristic  vacillation,  despatched 
the  same  evening  De  Martino,  who  had  re- 
turned from  Paris,  to  Rome  to  seek  the  Pope's 
sanction.  While  approving  the  proposed  am- 
nesty, and  realizing  the  necessity  for  separate 
political  institutions  in  Naples  and  Sicily,  Pius 
IX.  as  a  matter  of  conscience  clung  to  his  em- 
phatic objection  to  the  alliance  with  Piedmont, 
although,  appreciating  the  perilous  embarrass- 
ments of  his  neighbor,  he  did  not  insist  on  the 
abandonment  of  this  essential  point.  As  a  re- 
sult of  De  Martino's  report,  Francis,  on  the 
morning  of  June  25th,  signed  the  important 
document  which  it  wjis  hoped  would  guarantee 
the  preservation  of  the  Throne.  The  Act  em- 
bodied :  a  general  amnesty  for  all  political 
crimes  committed  prior  to  the  date  of  its  pro- 
mulgation ;  the  formation  of  a  new  Ministry 
under  Antonio  Spinelli,  charged  with  the  elab- 
oration of  the  articles  of  a  Constitution  mod- 


238  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

elled  on  a  basis  of  Italian  National  representa- 
tive institutions  ;  the  conclusion  of  an  alliance 
with  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Sardinia,  for  the 
common  interests  of  the  Two  Crowns  in  Italy  ; 
the  granting  of  analogous  representative  in- 
stitutions in  Sicily,  with  a  Prince  of  the  Royal 
House  as  Viceroy  ;  and  decreed,  moreover,  that 
the  flag  should  henceforth  be  composed  of  the 
Italian  National  colors,  red,  white,  and  green, 
with  the  arms  of  the  Reigning  Dynasty  in  the 
centre. 

On  the  morning  following,  the  King  and 
Queen  drove  into  Naples  in  an  open  carriage. 
Although  respectfully  saluted  by  the  populace 
as  they  passed  through  the  crowded  streets, 
there  was  no  sign  of  the  enthusiastic  welcome 
they  had  been  led  to  expect  as  a  result  of  the 
proclamation  of  the  previous  day.  This  was 
due  in  great  measure  to  the  action  of  the 
Liberal  and  Revolutionary  Committees  in  the 
capital,  which  had  issued  instructions  that  the 
Constitution  be  coldly  received  ;  warning  their 
members  that  the  King  had  no  intention  of 
keeping  faith  with  the  Liberals,  and  that  the 
measures  now  wrung  from  him  would  be  revoked 
on  the  first  favorable  opportunity  ;  that  to  ac- 
cept the  same  would  be  equivalent  to  treachery 
towards  the  Sicilians,  who  were  at  that  very 
moment  being  butchered  by  the  Neapolitan 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  239 

Soldiery,  besides  dealing  a  death-blow  to  aspi- 
rations for  Italian  National  Unity.  As  a  con- 
sequence, while  the  men-of-war  anchored  in  the 
bay,  the  forts,  and  public  buildings,  hoisted 
the  new  tricolor  flag,  greeting  the  same  with 
the  thunder  of  salutes  from  the  artillery  afloat 
and  ashore ;  the  official  rejoicings  awakened 
no  response  from  the  general  public.  To  make 
matters  worse  riots  broke  out ;  and  the  follow- 
ing evening  increased  to  alarming  proportions. 
Bands  recruited  from  the  lowest  scum  of  the 
population,  their  numbers  swelled  by  agents  of 
the  secret  Police,  invaded  the  principal  streets, 
yelling  "  Long  live  the  King.  Down  with  the 
Constitution.  Death  to  the  Liberals."  The 
Police  Offices,  in  various  parts  of  the  town 
were  broken  into ;  the  archives  burnt  or  des- 
troyed ;  the  Commissioners  wounded  or  mal- 
treated. In  other  quarters  the  infuriated  mob 
attacked  all  those  suspected  of  Liberal  tenden- 
cies, and  even  insulted  and  struck  the  French 
Minister,  Brenier,  who  was  passing  in  his  car- 
riage. The  fomentation,  and  enactment,  of 
these  outrages  was  generally  attributed  to  the 
influence  of  the  Queen  Mother  and  the  King's 
half-brother,  the  Count  of  Trani,  both  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  proposed  Constitution,  and  who 
hoped  by  these  means  to  render  its  promul- 
gation ineffective.     It  has  been  objected,  how- 


240  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

ever,  that  as  Yillamarina  and  the  Unionists 
were  equally  anxious,  although  from  very  dif- 
ferent motives,  that  the  Constitution  should 
not  be  successfully  launched,  or  favorably  re- 
ceived, it  is  unfair  to  hold  one  party  responsi- 
ble for  the  shameful  scenes  enacted.  That  the 
roughs  and  agitators  were  the  paid  agents  of 
one  or  more  political  parties  there  is  no  doubt, 
while  their  indiscriminate  attacks  on  Police 
and  Liberals  alike  would  seem  to  indicate  the 
connivance  of  those  interested  in  defeating,  for 
one  purpose  or  another,  the  proposed  reforms. 
As  a  result  of  the  disturbances  the  Consti- 
tutional Ministry  initiated  its  career  by  pro- 
claiming the  state  of  siege,  an  unfortunate  but 
imperative  necessity,  at  least  until  measures 
could  be  devised  for  the  preservation  of  order 
by  the  formation  of  the  promised  National 
Guard. 

Under  the  Presidency  of  Antonio  Spinelli, 
with  De  Martino  in  charge  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  the  hitherto  obscure,  but  soon  all-power- 
ful, Liborio  Romano  as  Prefect  of  Police,  the 
new  Ministry  lost  no  time  in  approaching  Vil- 
lamarina  on  the  subject  of  the  Piedmontese  al- 
liance. Count  Talleyrand,  French  Minister  in 
Turin,  seconded  the  Neapolitan  application, 
which  now  caused  Cavour  considerable  em- 
barrassment.     The  Marquis  of  Villamarina, 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  241 

who  had  closely  watched,  and  carefully  stadied 
the  development  of  the  present  situation,  and 
was  thoroughly  cognizant  of  its  causes,  ex- 
pressed himself  in  his  despatches  to  Turin  as 
not  by  any  means  satisfied  concerning  the  sin- 
cerity of  Francis,  either  in  connection  with  the 
concessions  wrung  from  him,  or  the  motives 
which  prompted  the  application  for  an  alliance 
so  lately  spurned.  In  his  opinion,  as  in  Cavour's, 
the  opportune  moment  for  such  a  tie  had  passed; 
while  Garibaldi  and  his  companions  had 
travelled  too  far  on  the  road  to  success  to  brook 
any  attempt  at  direct  interference,  or  sugges- 
tion tending  to  the  restoration  of  the  old  order. 
**  If  we  yield  now,  and  accept  the  Neapolitan 
alliance,"  he  wrote  to  Cavour,  "  we  shall  have 
revolution  at  home  as  well  as  here  in  Naples  : 
and,  moreover,  the  Bourbons  will  encourage 
its  explosion." 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  astute 
Piedmontese  Prime  Minister  would  willingly, 
and  in  the  face  of  recent  developments,  jeop- 
ardize his  Sovereign's  National  popularity  by 
formally  binding  himself  to  succor  his  found- 
ering southern  rival  from  the  consequences  of 
his  own  blind  folly.  Yet  the  susceptibilities  of 
the  European  Powers  demanded  careful  hand- 
ling ;  and  especially  France  and  England,  who 
now  welcomed  the  proposed  alliance  as  a  poasi- 
i6 


242  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

ble  termination  of  the  vexatious  Italian  im- 
broglio, which  threatened  to  complicate  inter- 
national relations,  and  constituted  a  perpetual 
menace  to  the  equipoise  of  political  combina- 
tions. Consequently  Cavour,  while  not  de- 
clining to  discuss  the  matter,  began  by  insist- 
ing on  three  preliminary  considerations,  the 
acceptance  of  which  he  held  indispensable.  He 
contended,  Jirstly  :  that  any  formal  bond  be- 
tween the  two  Governments  was  impossible 
while  civil  war  existed  in  Sicily,  since  Victor 
Emmanuel  could  not  become  the  ally  of  the 
King  of  Naples,  who  was  even  now  shedding 
the  blood  of  his  subjects  in  the  disaffected 
island.  The  second  consideration  called  for 
the  immediate  cessation  of  all  intimate  relations 
with  Austria,  and  the  abandonment  of  obnox- 
ious influences  hostile  or  detrimental  to  the 
principles  of  Italian  Nationalism.  Thirdly, 
Cavour  laid  stress  on  the  necessity  that  the 
policy  of  the  two  Governments  towards  the 
Roman  Curia  should  be  identical. 

European  diplomacy  could  not  openly  take 
exception  to  considerations  so  manifestly  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  recognized  interests  of  the 
Italianisra  so  loudly  proclaimed;  yet  the  subter- 
fuge was  too  thinly  veiled  not  to  be  clearly 
perceptible  to  those  gifted  with  an  appreciation 
of  the  probabilities,  as  evinced  by  existing  real- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  243 

ities.  The  invalidation  of  the  proposed  treaty 
owing  to  a  possible  breach  of  faith  on  the  part 
of  the  Neapolitan  Government,  would  un- 
doubtedly have  entangled  Austria,  France  and 
the  Holy  See,  and  perhaps  other  European 
Powers  ;  while  the  fruits  of  1859  would  certain- 
ly have  been  lost.  It  consequently  behoved 
Cavour,  aside  from  dynastic  ambitions,  to  pro- 
ceed cautiously  before  committing  his  country 
to  a  course  which,  whatever  advantages  it 
might  have  offered  a  couple  of  months  earlier, 
was  now  viewed  with  sullen  disapprobation  by 
an  increasingly  powerful  party,  spread  over  the 
entire  Peninsula. 

On  July  third  the  Neapolitan  Envoy  at  Turin 
ofl&cially  opened  negotiations  with  the  announce- 
ment that  a  special  Embassy  would  shortly  arrive 
at  the  Piedmontese  capital  for  the  purpose  men- 
tioned, and  two  weeks  later  Commendatore 
Giovanni  Manna,  and  Baron  Winspeare,  reached 
Turin.  The  former  was  well  known  as  an  au- 
thority on  financial  administration,  and  as  an 
ardent,  if  prudent,  advocate  of  liberal  institu- 
tions :  the  latter  had  gained  a  reputation  as  an 
able  diplomatist  and  administrator.  The  basis 
on  which  negotations  were  to  be  carried  on 
were  the  following  :  An  alliance  between  the  two 
Crowns,  to  consolidate  and  assure  the  independ- 
ence of  the  Peninsula  against  foreign  attacks 


244  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

or  influence ;  a  Customs  and  Commercial 
League  ;  Uniformity  of  coinage,  weights  and 
measures  ;  Agreement  for  postal  service,  and 
literary  copyright,  as  well  as  for  the  railway 
systems.  In  fact,  a  general  fusion  of  the 
material  interests  of  the  two  States.  The 
King  of  Naples,  furthermore,  consented  that 
Sicily  should  be  free  to  elect  a  Parliament  in 
conformity  with  the  Constitution  of  1812  ; 
which  body  might  decree  a  complete  political 
separation  from  the  Continental  Kingdom,  yet 
remain  under  the  sovereignty  of  the  Neapolitan 
Throne,  which  would  be  represented  by  a 
Prince  of  the  Royal  Family,  as  Viceroy.  The 
Ambassadors  were,  moreover,  empowered  to 
treat  concerning  the  recognition  of  the  annexed 
provinces  of  Tuscany,  and  the  Duchies ;  but 
for  the  late  Pontifical  possessions  a  special 
arrangement  was  proposed,  by  virtue  of  which 
Piedmont  was  to  exercise  a  limited  sovereignty 
over  the  Legations,  while  the  Bourbon  King 
assumed  similar  functions  in  connection  with 
the  Marches  and  Umbria. 

The  Bourbon  Envoys,  however,  very  rightly 
and  justly  insisted,  as  a  preliminary,  on  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  in  Sicily,  and  the  formal 
assurance  that  neither  Garibaldi,  nor  his  fol- 
lowers, be  allowed  to  cross  over  to  the  Continent, 
or  to  incite  the  continental  population  to  revolt. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  246 

This  last  condition  was  warmly  supported  by 
Russia,  Prussia,  France  and  England.  Although 
Cavour  protested  that  the  Government,  as  such, 
had  no  authority  over  Garibaldi,  who,  having 
severed  every  link  of  dependence  on  it  by  re- 
nouncing his  military  grade,  and  his  status  as 
Deputy,  would  undoubtedly  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
any  orders  emanating  from  Turin  ;  he  never- 
theless considered  it  advisable  to  conciliate 
diplomatic  requirements  by  making  an  appeal 
for  prudent  moderation  on  the  part  of  the  vic- 
torious filibuster,  who  still  loudly  proclaimed 
his  fealty  to  Victor  Emmanuel.  Under  date 
of  July  twenty-second  the  King  of  Sardinia 
thus  addressed  the  popular  hero  :  **  General, 
you  are  aware  that  I  did  not  approve  of  your 
expedition,  with  which  I  have  had  absolutely 
no  connection.  But  to-day  the  difficult  posi- 
tion in  which  Italy  finds  herself  makes  it  my 
duty  to  place  myself  in  direct  communication 
with  you.  In  the  event  that  the  King  of  Naples 
concede  the  complete  evacuation  of  Sicily  by 
his  troops  ;  if  he  should  voluntarily  desist  from 
all  intercession,  and  engage  personally  not  to 
exercise  any  kind  of  pressure  over  the  Sicilians, 
in  order  that  they  may  have  full  liberty  to  select 
that  Government  which  best  pleases  them  ;  in 
this  case  I  think  it  would  be  more  reasonable 
to  renounce  all  ulterior  projects  against  the 


246  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Kingdom  of  Naples.  If  you  are  of  a  contrary 
opinion  I  expressly  reserve  to  myself  complete 
liberty  of  action,  and  abstain  from  expressing 
any  opinion  relative  to  your  designs."  The 
reply  which  reached  Turin  a  few  days  later  ran 
as  follows  :  "  Sire,  Your  Majesty  is  aware  of 
the  affection  and  reverence  I  entertain  for  your 
person,  and  how  eager  I  am  to  obey  you. 
Nevertheless  your  Majesty  must  appreciate  the 
embarrassment  I  should  find  myself  in,  should 
I  assume  a  passive  attitude  in  face  of  the  Neapol- 
itan continental  population  which  I  have  been 
obliged  to  restrain  for  so  long,  and  to  whom  I 
have  promised  my  immediate  support.  Italy 
would  demand  of  me  an  accounting  for  such 
inaction,  and  would  suffer  immense  detriment 
from  it.  On  the  termination  of  my  mission  I 
will  lay  at  your  Majesty's  feet  the  authority 
which  circumstances  have  conferred  upon  me, 
and  shall  be  most  happy  to  obey  you  for  the 
remainder  of  my  life.*' 

An  examination  of  his  private  correspondence 
with  the  Marquis  d'Azeglio  affords  an  insight 
into  the  perplexities  and  worries  which  harassed 
the  Prime  Minister  during  these  days  of  un- 
certainty, and  multitudinous  entanglements. 
Writing  to  D'Azeglio  on  July  12th,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  arrival  of  the  Neapolitan  Envoys, 
he  professes  to  know  neither  the  proposals  they 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  247 

will  advance  nor  the  replies  he  will  make.  "  If 
they  really  consent  to  the  cession  of  Sicily,  and 
will  aid  us  to  demolish  Rome,  I  think  we  might 
come  to  an  understanding  :  for  a  time  at  least.** 
His  estimation  of  Manna,  after  their  first  inter- 
view, is  interesting.  The  Envoy  struck  him  as 
a  thoroughly  honest  man  who  had  been  forced 
into  assuming  a  r61e  which  inspired  him  with 
profound  repugnance,  and  whose  confidence  in 
the  Government  "  he  has  been  made  to  repre- 
sent **  is  of  the  most  limited.  On  the  same  day 
on  which  Victor  Emmanuel  penned  the  letter 
to  Garibaldi  which  has  been  quoted  above, 
Cavour  informed  his  correspondent  in  London  : 
"  I  am  going  to  advise  the  King  to  write  to 
him  (Garibaldi)  to  accept  a  truce,  on  the  basis 
of  the  concession  to  the  Sicilians  of  their  polit- 
ical future.  I  doubt  very  much  whether  Gari- 
baldi will  accept  this  advice.  It  would  indeed 
be  too  stupid  not  to  take  advantage  of  the 
deplorable  condition  in  which  Naples  finds 
itself.  In  the  meanwhile  the  whole  Diplomatic 
Corps  here  is  down  upon  me  ;  Hudson  excepted.*' 
After  describing  the  attitudes  of  the  various 
representatives,  Cavour  acknowledges  that, 
while  tlie  diplomatists  rail  and  storm  he  presses 
forward,  and  that  the  fleets  and  armies  of  the 
West  alone  can  stop  him.  Referring  to  the 
proposed  alliance,  and  the  cowardly  cession  of 


248  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Messina  to  Garibaldi,  he  exclaims :  "  This 
measure  proves  that  at  Naples  there  is  no 
longer  an  army,  no  longer  a  Government. 
Manna  himself  admits  that  the  discredit  into 
which  his  Government  has  fallen  renders  an 
alliance  more  diflBcult.  One  may  ally  oneself 
with  an  enemy  one  respects,  even  after  having 
defeated  him  :  one  cannot  sully  oneself  by  a 
union  with  a  Government  which  does  not  even 
know  how  to  fall  with  honor."  At  Turin  the 
surrender  of  Messina  was  considered  as  doing 
away  with  all  possibility  of  preventing  Gari- 
baldi's descent  upon  the  mainland,  should  such 
a  course  have  been  deemed  advisable.  Cavour 
in  this  connection  writes  explicitly  :  **  Don't 
think  that  I  look  without  serious  apprehension 
on  this  coming  event.  It  is  no  longer  a  question 
of  the  King  of  Naples  :  nobody  in  his  capital 
wants  him  any  more,  and  the  good  Villamarina 
(whose  last  despatch  I  forwarded)  does  not 
cease  in  his  warnings  to  me  that  it  would  be  an 
enormous  blunder  to  attempt  to  prop  up  an 
edifice  which  is  crumbling  on  all  sides,  and 
whose  every  support.  Navy,  Army,  Administra- 
tion, is  undermined.  But  there  is  great  danger 
in  allowing  Garibaldi  to  gain  possession  of 
Naples.  Not  being  able  to  prevent  his  taking 
Naples,  there  is  but  one  means  of  saving  our- 
selves from  being  overwhelmed  by  him :  it  is  to 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  249 

yie  with  him  in  boldness,  and  not  allow  him  to 
monopolize  the  unitarian  idea  which  now  exer- 
cises an  irresistible  fascination  over  the  popular 
masses.  Certainly  the  dangers  of  this  situation 
are  not  concealed  from  me  ;  but  events  are 
stronger  than  men.  There  would  be  no  use  in 
struggling  against  them."  He  then  desires 
D'Azeglio  to  sound  the  British  Government, 
with  all  due  secrecy  and  circumspection,  as  to 
what  aid  would  be  forthcoming,  should  events 
in  the  South  make  the  active  intervention  of 
Piedmont  necessary  or  advisable.  A  week 
later  Cavour  furnished  the  Marquis  d'Azeglio 
with  a  copy  of  the  nltra-confidential  instruc- 
tions to  Count  Nigra,  which  outlined  the 
proposed  expedition  of  General  Cialdini  to 
Ancona.  A  postscript  to  this  important  docu- 
ment encloses  a  lock  of  Garibaldi's  hair,  as  *'  a 
trophy  to  be  dangled  before  the  eyes  of  the 
female  admirers  of  the  hero  of  Sicily  I " 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Promulgation  of  Constitution.— Preparations  for  elections.— 
Amnesty  of  political  prisoners.— Tumultuous  reception  of 
exiles.- Action  of  troops.- Disorders  in  the  capital.— Ro- 
mano's influence.- Romano ;  his  character  and  antece- 
dents.— The  Queen-Mother  goes  to  Gaeta. — Intrigues  of  the 
"Camarilla." — Romano's  further  demands. — Insulting  resig- 
nations.—The  Press  embarrasses  the  Government.— Schism 
in  Revolutionary  Committees. — Romano's  revelations. — His 
political  memoirs. — Cavour's  opportunity. — His  despatch  to 
Envoy  at  St.  Petersburg. — ^His  remarks  to  Nisco. — Disa£Fec- 
tion  in  Neapolitan  Army. — The  Ministerial  progranune.— 
The  elections  posti>oned. 

The  newly-formed  ministry  in  Naples,  anx- 
ions  to  allay  popular  suspicions  by  a  tangible 
proof  of  the  sincerity  of  the  Sovereign  Act  pro- 
mulgated on  June  twenty-fifth,  strongly  ad- 
vised Francis  to  revive  without  delay  the  Con- 
stitution of  1848,  which  they  argued  *•  had  only 
been  suspended  in  consequence  of  painful  cir- 
cumstances, which  need  not  now  be  recalled,*' 
and  had  never  been  abrogated.  The  King 
signed  the  decree  re-establishing  this  Constitu- 
tion on  July  first,  and  simultaneously  convened 
the  Electoral  Colleges  for  August  nineteenth, 
and  Parliament  on  September  tenth.  Next 
day  the  city  was  relieved  of  the  oppressive 
250 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  251 

measnres  of  martial  law,  which  had  been  in 
force  since  the  outbreaks  which  accompanied 
the  promulgation  of  the  Act. 

The  Ministry  now  became  absorbed  in  the 
formation  of  committees  for  the  preparation 
of  laws  and  reforms,  to  be  submitted  to  the 
consideration  of  the  future  Parliament. 

The  amnesty  of  political  prisoners  and  exiles, 
promised  by  the  Act,  went  into  operation  on 
July  third  ;  not  only  for  those  whose  trials  were 
still  in  progress,  but  including  all  undergoing 
confinement,  or  under  sentence  of  perpetual  ban- 
ishment from  the  Kingdom.  The  execution  of 
this  decree  plunged  the  Government  into  fresh 
embarrassments  and  complications,  for  the 
bolder,  and  more  irreconcilable,  of  these  politi- 
cal agitators  lost  not  a  moment  in  inciting  their 
adherents  to  continue  a  struggle,  the  first  fruits 
of  which  were  already  theirs.  The  arrival  of 
each  popular  martyr,  such  as  Settembrini, 
Pisanelli,  and  Imbriani,  was  the  signal  for 
demonstrations  of  tumultuous  sympathy,  in- 
variably accompanied  by  cries  of  "  Viva  Italia," 
and  "  Viva  Garibaldi."  Count  Cavour  had 
advised  all  the  exiles  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
Turin  to  return  to  their  country,  and  to  use 
their  influence  towards  the  propagation  of 
National  principles.  Most  were  anxious  to 
Avail  themselves  of  the  facilities  extended,  but 


252  TRE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Carlo  Poerio  significantly  refused  to  return  to 
Naples,  as  long  as  the  Bourbons  occupied  tne 
Throne. 

It  was  rumored  that  the  troops  were  opposed 
to  the  franchise  lately  granted,  and  naturally 
continual  friction  between  the  Liberal  and 
Military  elements  ensued.  On  July  fifteenth 
the  Grenadiers  of  the  Royal  Guard,  exasperated 
by  one  of  the  aforementioned  demonstrations, 
charged  the  Liberalist  sympathizers,  with  the 
cry  of  ''Long  live  the  King  ;"  cut  down  those 
who  resisted,  and  even  sacked  several  shops  in 
which  terrified  citizens  had  taken  refuge. 

The  occurrence  spread  terror  tlrfoughout  the 
city,  and  caused  consternation  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Ministerial  party.  Liborio  Romano  laid 
the  responsibility  at  the  door  of  the  Reaction- 
ists, and  claimed  to  possess  documents  in  sup- 
port of  his  accusation.  The  Minister  of  War 
resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  General  Pianell, 
while  Liborio  Romano  took  charge  of  the  Min- 
istry of  the  Interior  vacated  by  del  Re.  Dur- 
ing his  brief  administration  of  the  Prefecture 
of  Police,  Romano  had  surrounded  himself  with 
members  of  the  "Camorra/*  numbers  of  whom 
had  but  just  obtained  their  release  from  the 
prisons,  by  virtue  of  the  recent  amnesty.  This 
policy,  which  has  been  adversely  criticised,  was 
not  without  sound  advantage  at  the  momenty 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  203 

and  although  originally  resorted  to  nnder  stress 
of  complex  circumstances,  was  undoubtedly 
later  the  means  of  saving  the  capital  from  far 
more  serious  disturbances.  The  system  gave 
rise  to  great  abuses,  it  is  true,  and  favored 
many  individual  acts  of  retaliation  on  Bourbon 
adherents ;  but  the  formation  of  the  National 
Guard  acted  as  a  check  to  the  over-zealous 
police,  and  moderated  the  evils  of  this  tempo- 
rary expedient,  which  became  alarmingly  ap- 
parent, however,  when,  after  the  fall  of  the 
reigning  Dynasty,  it  was  necessary  to  expur- 
gate this  element  from  the  ranks  of  the  local 
and  National  bureaucracy. 

In  the  meantime  Liberie  Romano  was  the 
idol  of  those  he  had  placed  in  positions  of  more 
or  less  importance.  The  police  force,  and  the 
members  of  the  National  Guard,  the  ranks  of 
which  were  also  thronged  with  "Camorristi," 
affectionately  styled  him  **  Father."  This  lat- 
ter body  of  men,  which  on  July  seventeenth 
consisted  of  six  thousand  men,  was  two  days 
later  increased  to  nearly  ten  thousand.  Prince 
Ischitella,  formerly  a  Minister  of  Ferdinand  II., 
and  a  devoted  friend  of  Romano,  commanded 
this  branch  of  the  service,  and  was  surrounded 
by  officers  equally  attached  to  the  new  Minister 
of  the  Interior.  The  enthusiasm  aroused  by 
Bomano's  visit  to  the  barracks  of  the  National 


254  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Guard  on  July  seventeenth,  in  company  with 
Ischitella,  was  indescribable,  and  cleared  away 
all  doubts  as  to  the  influence  at  the  command 
of  the  political  star  which  had  but  so  recently 
appeared  above  the  horizon. 

Liborio  Romano,  originally  an  obscure  lawyer 
from  Lecce,  a  town  in  the  heel  of  Italy,  has 
traced  his  political  memoirs,  or  justification  of 
the  policy  pursued  during  the  few  months  he 
was  in  power.  These  are,  however,  unconvinc- 
ing and  susceptible  to  varied  interpretation, 
leaving  the  impartial  reader  in  doubt  as  to  the 
real  share,  or  responsibility,  attributable  to 
him  in  the  disasters  which  overtook  the  Sov- 
ereign he  professed  to  serve.  He  proclaimed 
himself  a  Federalist  at  a  time  when  that  doc- 
trine was  popular  with  political  agitators  ;  and 
the  expression  of  these  views  had  gained  him 
credit  amongst  a  certain  class  of  politicians, 
and  even  served,  in  conjunction  with  other 
qualifications,  to  bring  him  into  more  or  less  in- 
timate relations  with  the  Count  of  Aquila,  who 
dabbled  in  Liberalism,  and  was  eager  to  play  a 
political  role  at  any  cost.  Although  Romano 
had  suffered  persecution,  imprisonment  and 
exile  at  the  hands  of  Ferdinand  II.,  and  had 
been  mixed  up  in  various  conspiracies  from 
1828  upwards  (he  was  born  in  1794),  his  politi- 
cal convictions  were  dubious  and  his  talents 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  255 

hardly  above  mediocrity.  If  his  phenomenal 
popularity  was  the  result  of  a  combination  of 
circumstances,  more  or  less  beyond  his  control, 
it  was  also  due  in  great  measure  to  the  man's 
special  aptitude  for  intrigue,  and  the  posses- 
sion of  what  has  been  described  as  the  Italo- 
Grecian  cunning,  at  once  ingenuous  and  caress- 
ing, characteristic  in  the  descendants  of  the 
Greek  colonists  who  settled  on  the  shores  of  the 
lower  Adriatic,  and  Ionian  Sea.  His  immense 
popularity  and  undoubted,  though  brief,  in- 
fluence, were  of  advantage  to  the  Bourbons  and 
Liberals  in  turn  ;  for  he  possessed  no  vestige 
of  political  conscience,  and  from  the  outset 
played  a  double  game.  It  is  a  significant  fact 
that  after  the  collapse  of  the  Government  he 
served,  and  an  exceedingly  brief  career  under 
Garibaldi,  Romano  was  shunned  by  the  Union- 
ists, and  was  given  no  part  in  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  Southern  Italy. 

On  assuming  the  administration  of  the  Prefec- 
ture of  Police,  which  oflBce  the  Count  of  Aqnila 
was  instrumental  in  overcoming  the  King's 
hesitation  to  grant  him,  Romano  insisted  that 
the  Queen  Mother,  whose  influence  he  rightly 
mistrusted,  should  no  longer  reside  in  Naples. 
Francis,  greatly  impressed  by  the  evident  au- 
thority of  the  new  Minister  over  the  undisci- 
plined elements  of  the  population,  as  well  as  his 


2&6  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

power  with  the  Police  and  National  Guard, 
relnctantly  yielded  to  this  and  other  conditions 
hardly  less  humiliating.  The  Dowager  Maria 
Theresa,  accompanied  by  the  King's  half- 
brothers,  and  the  more  notorious  of  the 
"Camarilla,"  took  their  departure  to  Gaeta, 
but  continued,  nevertheless,  from  the  shelter 
of  that  stronghold,  to  conspire  against  the 
Liberal  institutions  whose  spread  they  witnessed 
with  impotent  rage  and  horror.  Komano  de- 
scribes the  "Camarilla"  as  more  fatal  to  the 
Dynasty  than  any  of  the  revolutionary  factions. 
**  This  party,  blinded  by  implacable  hatred  of 
the  Liberal  institutions,  revived  in  spite  of  it, 
failing  to  appreciate  the  nature  of  the  Italian 
movement  or  the  strength  of  the  revolution, 
did  not  recognize  the  fact  that  the  Dynasty  was 
abandoned  by  all  Europe,  by  the  country  itself, 
and  by  those  who  had  previously  been  its 
staunchest  upholders.  Counting  on  the  hesitat- 
ing, uncertain  character  of  the  King,  who  had 
no  definite  plans,  they  hoped  to  secure  a  facile 
victory,  could  they,  by  means  of  a  *  coup 
d'etat,*  possess  themselves  of  the  Government, 
throw  over  the  Constitution,  and  lay  hands  on 
the  Ministry,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  various 
parties."  Romano  further  states  that  he 
frankly  told  the  King  when  he  accepted  the 
portfolio  of  the  Interior,  that,  in  view  of  the 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  257 

altered  conditions  throughout  Italy  as  well  as 
the  triumphant  progress  of  the  revolution,  it 
was  now  useless  to  expect  Piedmont  to  agree  to 
the  alliance.  He  did  not  conceal  from  the 
Sovereign,  he  says,  that  the  universal  sympathy 
with  the  House  of  Savoy,  the  victories  of 
Garibaldi,  and  the  growing  desire  for  National 
unity,  offset  by  the  recollections  of  an  irrepar- 
able past,  constituted  almost  insurmountable 
obstacles.  In  his  opinion,  the  only  possible 
salvation  lay  in  the  observance  of  the  strictest 
legality,  and  the  most  loyal  and  broadest  inter- 
pretation of  the  constitutional  franchises. 
This,  and  this  alone,  could  inspire  trust  in 
the  Government,  and  faith  in  the  sincerity  of 
its  intentions. 

Not  content  with  the  banishment  of  the 
Queen  Mother  to  Gaeta,  and  the  dispersal  of 
the  **  Camarilla,"  Eomano  demanded  that  the 
army  be  immediately  required  to  swear  fealty 
to  the  Constitution  ;  that  the  Royal  Guard  be 
disbanded,  and  the  National  Guard  increased 
to  twelve  thousand  men.  Francis  reluctantly 
consented  tliat  the  oath  be  administered  to  the 
troops,  and  still  more  unwillingly  yielded  to 
the  demand  for  an  increase  of  a  body  of  men 
manifestly  hostile  to  his  personal  interests,  but 
stood  firm  for  the  preservation  of  his  Guard, 
although  he  compromised    the  difficulty    by 


268  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

transferring  the  quarters  of  these  regiments 
to  Portici,  outside  Naples.  By  these  measures 
Liborio  Romano  practically  controlled  the 
whole  military  and  police  force  in  the  capital ; 
while,  thanks  to  the  methods  of  recruiting  al- 
ready described,  his  influence  rapidly  extended 
throughout  the  provinces  as  well. 

Another  bitter  humiliation  and  source  of 
fresh  anxiety  awaited  the  unfortunate  Francis 
after  the  promulgation  of  the  Constitution. 
Alexander  Nunziante,  Duke  of  Mignano,  the 
trusted  and  favorite  General  of  Ferdinand  II., 
as  well  as  of  his  son,  requested  the  acceptance 
of  his  resignation  ;  and  a  few  days  later  re- 
turned to  the  King  all  the  decorations  which 
had  been  showered  upon  him,  with  the  insult- 
ing comment  that  he  could  no  longer  wear  on 
his  breast  the  insignia  of  a  Government  which 
confounded  honest,  straightforward  and  loyal 
subjects  with  those  deserving  only  of  con- 
tempt. Simultaneously,  the  Duchess  of  Mig- 
nano requested  that  she  be  relieved  of  her 
duties  of  Lady  of  Honor.  In  addition,  Nun- 
ziante  addressed  an  order  of  the  day  to  the 
troops  under  his  command,  couched  in  terms 
which  left  little  doubt  of  the  political  spirit 
which  animated  him. 

The  publication  of  these  documents  caused 
a    profound    impression    tliroughout    Italy, 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  259 

which  was  greatly  increased  when  it  became 
known  that  Nunziante  had  communicated  his 
intentions  to  Count  Cavour,  together  with 
declarations  which  virtually  committed  him  to 
the  Unitarian  Cause. 

Francis  now  received  daily  and  significant 
indications  of  the  growing  isolation  of  his  posi- 
tion. The  Legitimist  element  of  the  aristoc- 
racy, deeply  offended  by  the  Liberal  franchises 
embodied  in  the  Constitution,  held  aloof,  or 
manifested  their  indignation  by  refusing  to 
salute  the  Sovereign  in  the  streets. 

Meanwhile,  Romano  vigorously  pursued  his 
system  of  official  expurgation.  In  every 
branch  of  the  public  service  the  adherents  of 
the  old  regime  were  retired,  or  unceremoniously 
turned  out,  being  replaced  by  those  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  new  order.  Long  lists  were 
daily  presented  for  confirmation  to  the  King, 
who,  although  he  might  rebel  on  occasion, 
was,  nevertheless,  in  the  end  obliged  to  yield 
to  the  inexorable  will  of  the  Minister  he  dis- 
trusted, but  to  whose  supremacy  he  was  forced 
to  submit. 

The  liberty  of  the  Press,  accorded  by  the 
stipulations  of  the  Chart,  quickly  degenerated 
into  the  most  reprehensible  license.  Paltry 
sheets  of  every  shade  of  progressive  or  reac- 
tionary opinion,  anti-dynastic  for  the  most  part. 


260  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

some  frankly  Unitarian,  others  officious  mouth- 
pieces of  the  Cavouriani,  the  followers  of 
Garibaldi,  or  of  Mazzini's  more  fanatical 
disciples,  sprang  up  in  all  directions,  the  only 
loyally  Constitutional  and  Federalist  paper 
supporting  the  Ministerial  programme  being 
the  "  Italia."  Although  it  was  attempted  to 
restrain  the  vituperative  excesses  of  this 
ephemeral  literature  by  means  of  bonds  which 
each  political  publication  was  required  to  de- 
posit, the  measure  raised  such  a  storm  of  pro- 
test that  its  enforcement  was  rarely  resorted 
to.  The  malicious  misrepresentation  of  pro- 
posed reforms  proved  one  of  the  serious  em- 
barrassments against  which  the  Constitutional 
Ministry  labored  from  the  outset,  and  must 
even  under  less  unfavorable  auspices  have  con- 
stituted a  source  of  danger  and  failure. 

To  add  to  the  confusion  occasioned  by  the 
heterogeneous  politics  of  this  unbridled  Press, 
a  schism  was  created  in  the  Liberal  Committee, 
the  ramifications  of  which  extended  through- 
out the  southern  provinces.  The  split  re- 
sulted in  the  formation  of  two  Committees : 
that  of  Order,  and  that  of  Action.  The  former, 
composed  of  men  devoted  to  Count  Cavour, 
and  convinced  of  the  wisdom  of  the  prudential 
policy  he  advocated  ;  the  latter  made  up  of 
the  followers  of  Garibaldi.     While  both  aimed 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  261 

at  the  triumph  of  the  revolution,  their  methods 
and  vehicles  were  divergent.  The  Committee 
of  Order  desired  the  success  of  the  revolution 
on  the  Continent  to  be  independent  of  the  per- 
gonal participation,  or  direct  influence  of 
Garibaldi,  and  worked  to  bring  about  this  re- 
sult by  securing  the  co-operation  of  the  Nea- 
politan military  organizations.  To  this  party 
the  defection  of  General  Nunziante,  and  its 
possible  influence  on  the  troops  under  his 
command,  was  of  supreme  importance.  In 
the  hope  that  a  **pronunziamento,"  enhanced 
by  his  presence,  might  accomplish  this  end, 
Cavour  summoned  Nunziante  from  Switzer- 
land, where  he  had  retired,  and  entrusted  him 
with  a  mission  to  Naples.  The  Committee  of 
Action,  on  the  other  hand,  desired  for  various 
reasons  that  the,  no  longer  doubtful,  over- 
throw of  the  Bourbon  rule  should  redound  to 
the  credit  of  Garibaldi  alone. 

A  third  party,  essentially  reactionary  and 
bitterly  anti-Liberal,  conspired  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Queen  Mother  and  Count  of 
Trapani,  against  the  existing  (jovernment,  and 
aimed  at  creating  a  **  coup  d'6tat,"  which 
would  throw  the  power  into  their  own  hands, 
and  allow  them  to  get  rid,  not  only  of  the 
constitutional  franchises,  as  has  been  said,  but 
to  dispense  with  the  King  himself.     Romano 


262  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

clearly  states  that  the  disorders  of  July 
fifteenth  were  the  beginning  of  a  **  coup 
d'etat "  organized  by  this  party,  and  that,  al- 
though unsuccessful  in  its  immediate  object, 
its  effect  on  the  negotiations  pending  in  Turin 
was  far-reaching  ;  while  the  loss  of  prestige 
to  the  Crown,  both  abroad  and  at  home,  was 
incalculable.  The  Neapolitan  Minister  of  the 
Interior  is  not  surprised  that  Cavour  should 
avail  himself  of  the  incident  to  abandon  any 
serious  ideas  of  the  alliance  he  may  pre- 
viously have  entertained,  although  in  order 
not  to  prematurely  provoke  a  crisis,  the  con- 
sequences of  which  could  not  then  be  foreseen, 
he  allowed  it  to  be  understood  that  the  ques- 
tion was  still  under  diplomatic  discussion. 
While,  for  very  obvious  reasons,  it  is  not  safe 
to  rely  on  the  strictly  historical  accuracy  of 
many  of  the  explanations  of  disputed  points 
advanced  by  Romano,  it  is  nevertheless  inter- 
esting to  note  that  he,  a  prominent  actor  in 
the  drama,  declares  that  the  Spinelli  Cabinet 
opened  negotiations  for  the  alliance  unwill- 
ingly, "  coerced  by  Napoleon  III.,  and  by  all 
the  European  Powers,  except  Austria.  ..." 
He  adds  that  the  Neapolitan  Government,  in 
aeeking  the  alliance,  "had  not  only  in  view 
the  propitiation  of  foreign  Diplomacy,  but 
hoped  thereby  to  foist  on  Turin  the  responsi- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  268 

bility  of  the  progress  of  the  revolution,  and  of 
the  civil  war  which  might  ensue. "  He  absolves 
Cavour  of  the  accusation  of  bad  faith,  hurled 
against  him  by  the  infuriated  and  disappointed 
supporters  of  a  policy  which  aimed  at  the 
entanglement  of  Piedmont ;  and  is  of  opinion 
that  the  prudential  dissimulation,  and  pro- 
crastination, of  the  Sardinian  Minister,  who 
was  early  aware  of  the  real  situation,  served 
the  double  purpose  of  safeguarding  the 
interests  of  his  own  country,  and  averting  the 
untold  horrors  and  excesses  of  a  civil  war 
in  the  southern  Kingdom ;  at  that  moment 
the  theatre  of  the  violent  passions  of  con- 
tending political  factions  of  all  denomina- 
tions. 

The  recent  publication  of  much  of  the  secret 
political  correspondence  of  this  period,  has 
given  us  perhaps  a  clearer  appreciation  of  the 
real  motives  of  some  obscure  negotiations  than 
the  actors  themselves  possessed.  In  the  case 
of  Bomano  the  fact  should  not  be  lost  sight  of 
that  his  memoirs,  published  after  his  death 
(1873),  take  the  form  of  an  apology,  or  an  at- 
tempt at  posthumous  political  rehabilitation  ; 
and  display  in  the  most  favorable  light  many 
actions  generally  considered  difficult  of  satis- 
factory explanation.  Nevertheless  his  estimates 
of  the  closing  scenes  of  the  remarkable  drama 


264  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

in  which  he  played  8o  conspicuoue,  though 
unenTiable,  a  part  cannot  fail  to  be  instructive. 
The  disintegration  of  the  Military  and  Naval 
forces  of  the  Kingdom  became  daily  more  ap- 
parent, both  in  the  field  iu  Sicily,  and  amongst 
the  reserves  in  the  capital,  and  the  continen- 
tal provinces.  General  Nunziante  boasted  to 
Cavour  that  his  personal  influence  with  the 
army,  and  especially  with  the  regiments  of 
Chasseurs  he  had  lately  commanded,  was  suffi- 
cient to  secure  their  adhesion  to  the  banner  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  and  Unity.  Cavour,  now 
thoroughly  convinced  that  the  collapse  of  the 
Bourbon  Dynasty  was  merely  a  question  of 
time,  and  realizing  the  importance  of  being 
prepared  for  all  eventualities,  despatched  the 
General  on  a  Sardinian  man-of-war  to  Naples, 
in  order  that  he  might  ascertain  the  extent  of 
his  vaunted  influence.  At  the  same  time  Ad- 
miral Persano,  under  pretext  of  placing  him- 
self at  the  disposal  of  the  Princess  of  Syracuse, 
a  member  of  the  House  of  Savoy,  was  instructed 
to  station  his  fleet  in  Neapolitan  waters,  and 
hold  himself  in  readiness  for  all  contingencies  ; 
being  especially  watchful  lest,  with  the  spread 
of  disaffection,  the  Bourbon  Marine  come  under 
the  direct  control  of  Garibaldi.  The  Admiral 
now  placed  himself  in  open  communioation 
with  Villamarina.  and  the  Committee  of  Order, 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  268 

which,  as  has  been  said,  favored  the  caatioiui 
diplomacy  of  Cavour  in  preference  to  the  au- 
dacions  policy  of  the  Garibaldians.  On  the 
sqnadron  under  his  command,  which  was  grad- 
ually increased  as  opportunity  offered,  Persano 
embarked  several  regiments  of  Bersaglieri  in 
anticipation  of  the  necessity  of  their  presence 
for  the  preservation  of  order,  or  protection  of 
the  Sardinian  Envoy. 

In  his  despatch  of  July  twenty-eighth  to  the 
Marquis  Sauli,  Sardinian  Envoy  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, Cavour  broadly  hints  at  the  probable 
action  of  the  Government.  After  graphically 
describing  the  political  and  social  conditions 
of  the  Neapolitan  Kingdom,  he  adds  :  "  As  for 
ufl,  if  it  wete  in  our  power  to  infuse  a  breath 
of  moral  regeneration  in  a  body  stricken  with 
incutable  decrepitude,  we  would  not  refuse  our 
aid.  But,  under  existing  conditions,  we  must 
be  careful  not  to  wound  the  National  senti- 
ment." This  intimation  that  the  Government 
regarded  the  present  issue  as  a  reproduction  of 
the  principles  of  1789 ;  the  opposing  forces 
representing  Absolutism  and  Liberty;  National- 
ism versus  local  autonomy  ;  one  of  which  must 
destroy  tho  other  ;  was  undoubtedly  intended 
for  the  edification  of  European  Diplomacy,  and 
as  such  produced  its  effect. 

We  have  seen  that  his  despatch  to  d'Aaeglio, 


266  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

dated  three  days  earlier,  was  more  explicit,  and 
prognosticated  a  rivalry  in  audacity  with  Gari- 
baldi as  the  sole  means  of  counter-balancing 
the  dangerous  popularity  of  the  hero  of  the 
Sicilian  conquest.  To  Baron  Nisco,  a  Neapoli- 
tan exile,  whose  collaboration  with  Nunziante 
was  desired,  he  exclaimed  :  "  We  have  now 
entered  upon  a  phase  when  it  is  incumbent  on 
us  either  to  become  conspirators  in  order  to 
make  Italy,  or  to  perish  with  the  Nation.  Let 
U8  make  this  last  sacrifice  ;  let  us  conspire  ! " 

The  problem,  which  had  now  reached  a  dan- 
gerously acute  stage,  resolved  itself  into  the 
query  whether  Piedmont  should  profit  by  the 
intrigues  of  the  revolutionists  at  Naples  (doubt- 
ful transactions  perforce,  and  which  oould  not 
always  bear  the  light  of  day)  or  run  the  risk  of 
seeing  the  prize  slip  between  her  fingers  to  the 
advantage  of  one  of  the  ultra-radical  parties, 
eager  to  filch  the  booty  from  the  monarchists. 
Cavour,  although  certainly  not  a  squeamish 
politician,  still  hesitated  to  declare  openly,  and 
in  the  face  of  European  opposition,  for  the  rev- 
olution ;  but  from  this  moment  the  mask  was 
tentatively  lifted,and  Villamarina  and  Persano, 
while  careful  in  the  observation  of  interna- 
tional diplomatic  conventionalities,  Neverthe- 
less worked  more  or  less  openly  in  the  OAiue  of 
Unity. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLE8.  267 

The  diBafifection  in  the  army  grew  apace  as 
the  conception  of  National  Unity  waxed  more 
popular,  owing  in  part  to  the  astounding  achieve- 
ments in  Sicily,  and  also  to  the  incessant  labors 
of  the  Committees  in  the  two  Calabrias,  and 
other  southern  provinces.  In  spite  of  the 
splendid  bravery  of  Colonel  Bosco  and  his  faith- 
ful band  at  Milazzo,  the  insolent  disregard  of 
orders  from  Naples  convinced  the  King's  ad- 
visers that  many  of  the  commanders  of  the 
island  were  no  longer  worthy  of  implicit  con- 
fidence. The  feeling  of  uneasiness  was  greatly 
intensified  when  the  Count  of  Syracuse,  in  per- 
son, warned  the  Ministry  that  the  loyalty  of 
the  crews  of  the  vessels  destined  for  the  trans- 
portation of  three  battalions  which  it  was  de- 
sired to  send  to  the  aid  of  Bosco,  still  belea- 
guered in  the  citadel  of  Milazzo,  was  not  to  be 
counted  on  ;  and  advised  the  abandonment  of 
the  proposed  expedition. 

The  deluge,  as  it  mounted  higher  and  higher, 
found  the  Government  practically  inactive  ; 
still  hesitating  as  to  the  line  of  policy  to  be 
adopted,  and  obviously  incompetent  to  cope 
with  the  complex  problems  of  the  situation. 
Spurred  on  to  a  semblance  of  operative  energy, 
a  Ministerial  programme  was  finally  issued  on 
August  fourth.  The  belief  that  the  Govern- 
ment seriously  thought  to  arrest  the  invading 


268  THE  GOLLAPSB  OF 

tide  by  the  publication  of  this  weakly-con- 
structed document,  seems  incredible.  Such 
phrases  as  "  Protection  of  the  established  Re- 
ligion ;"  "  Institution  of  Communal  Reforms 
and  Public  Works  "  sounded  well  ;  but  to  think- 
ing men  the  promise  of  the  **  entire  and  sin- 
cere fulfilment  of  the  previsions  of  the  Consti- 
tution," seemed  suspiciously  superfluous,  while 
there  was  a  decidedly  false  ring  in  the  optimis- 
tic references  to  the  negotiations  in  progress 
for  the  Piedmontese  alliance.  Nor  is  it  con- 
ceivable that  Spinelli  believed  he  could  long 
deceive  popular  sentiment  concerning  the  doom 
of  negotiations  the  unsatisfactory  reception  of 
which  from  their  initiation  was  well  known. 
The  announcement  of  the  forthcoming  open- 
ing of  the  polls  for  the  election  of  the  National 
Representation  in  Parliament  alone  lent  mean- 
ing to  this  programme.  But  the  exaltation  of 
the  public  mind  was  too  great  to  be  calmed 
with  vague  and  indefinite  assurances.  The 
Press  seized  upon  the  question  of  the  represen- 
tation in  Parliament,  and  immediately  began 
the  publication  of  lists  of  candidates,  selected 
from  amongst  the  late  exiles  and  political  pris- 
oners professing  the  most  unequivocal  Unita- 
rian and  anti-Dynastic  principles. 

Liborio   Romano  publicly  denied  that  the 
Government  exerted  any  influence  in  the  prep- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  269 

aration  of  the  electoral  lists,  and  stated  that  it 
merely  "  desired  an  honest,  prudent,  inde- 
pendent and  Constitutional-Monarchial  Cham- 
ber." 

The  Electoral  Colleges  were  convened  for 
August  nineteenth,  but  the  convocation  was 
prorogued  until  the  twenty-sixth,  and  again 
postponed  to  September  thirtieth  ;  for  the  rea- 
son, as  advanced  in  the  royal  decree,  that  **  the 
disturbances  in  Sicily  and  in  Calabria  were  un- 
favorable to  a  candid  election." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Garibaldi  croeses  the  Straits.— Preoccupations  of  CaTowr.— 
Flan  to  neutralize  Garibaldi's  prestige. —The  minion  to 
Chamb6ry.— Napoleon's  encouragement.— Conspiracy  of  the 
"  Camarilla."  —Seizure  of  arms.— Expulsion  of  Count  of 
Aquila.— Francis  amidst  conflicting  coimsels.— Romano's 
memorandum. — Letter  of  the  Count  of  Syracuse. — Francis 
addresses  himself  to  GSaribaldi. — Indecision  of  King. — Elner- 
getic  policy  of  Cabinet.— Resignation  of  same.— Oaribaldi  at 
the  gates. — Francis  decides  to  leave  Naples. 

The  passage  of  Garibaldi,  and  what  was  now 
known  as  the  Army  of  the  South,  to  continen- 
tal Italy,  was  viewed  with  hardly  less  acute 
alarm  in  Turin  than  in  Naples.  Although  the 
personal  loyalty  of  the  Chief  whose  banner  was 
inscribed  with  the  patriotic  device,  "Victor 
Emmanuel  and  Italian  Unity,'*  was  not  ques- 
tioned by  the  mass  of  Unionists  throughout  the 
Peninsula,  the  political  creed  of  many  of  his 
lieutenants  and  henchmen  was  open  to  sus- 
picion. Cavour  dreaded  the  influence  of  these 
surroundings ;  and  while  unwilling  to  renounce 
the  prudent  policy  thus  far  adhered  to,  fully 
realized  the  blow  to  the  national  prestige  of 
the  **  Honest  King "  which  would  follow  the 
insinuations  of  pusillanimous  inertia,  should 
Garibaldi  be  permitted  to  accomplish  unaided 
270 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  271 

the  conquefit  of  the  Southern  Kingdom. 
Already  the  independent  and  brilliant  achieve- 
ments of  the  guerilla  chieftain  suggested  dis- 
quieting possibilities,  should  he,  flushed  with 
even  greater  triumphs,  give  vent  to  the  resent- 
ment ho  had  felt  at  the  cession  of  his  native 
town  of  Nice,  and  embroil  his  country  with 
France  by  an  attack  on  the  Eternal  City. 

Much  as  Cavour  dreaded  a  departure  from 
the  diplomatic  channels  hitherto  pursued,  it 
was  now  apparent  that,  unless  Piedmont  was 
to  reap  merely  odium,  and  possibly  incur 
serious  danger,  from  an  enterprise  entered 
upon  in  the  name  of  the  national  cause  her 
Sovereign  impersonated,  action  could  no  longer 
be  delayed. 

Although  the  Piedmontese  Government 
cannot  be  said  to  have  been  taken  by  surprise, 
yet,  nevertheless,  the  rapidity  of  events  in  the 
South  was  unprecedented,  and  Cavour  would 
have  preferred  more  time  to  mature  his  plans. 
This,  however,  was  denied  him,  and  he  con- 
sequently faced  the  dilemma  with  character- 
istic energy. 

'*  I  don't  flatter  myself,"  he  wrote  d'Azeglio 
on  August  first,  *'  that  England  will  partic- 
ularly relish  my  plan ;  I  think  she  would 
prefer  to  see  Garibaldi  reach  Naples,  even  if 
he  brought  anarchy  and  revolution  in  his  train. 


272  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

She  considers  him  as  the  enemy  of  France,  and 
that  is  enough  to  render  him  dear  in  her  eyes. 
But  we  cannot  expose  ourselves  to  destruction 
for  the  sake  of  pleasing  England.  ..." 

Needless  to  say,  that  the  plan  referred  to 
aimed  at  reaching  Naples  in  advance  of  Gari- 
baldi. In  determining  upon  this  bold  move 
the  Piedmontese  Minister  laid  great  stress  on 
the  oft-proclaimed  non-intervention  policy  of 
the  English  Cabinet.  France  he  felt  confident 
would  not  go  contrary  to  British  opinion  in 
this  matter,  although  the  Emperor  might  deem 
it  incumbent  on  him  to  bluster  officially  in 
order  to  propitiate  the  Legitimist  and  Clerical 
elements,  which  must  necessarily  take  exception 
to  any  violation  of  the  territories  of  the  Pope. 

The  result  of  the  mission  of  Farini  and 
Cialdini  to  Chamb6ry,  where  they  met  the 
Emperor,  who  was  visiting  his  newly-acquired 
possessions,  was  satisfactory  in  so  far  as  it 
confirmed  Cavour's  conviction  that  Napoleon 
III.  would  not  resent  the  passage  of  the  Pied- 
montese forces  through  the  Papal  States,  pro- 
vided Rome  itself  were  left  untouched.  The 
Envoys  were  greeted  with  the  reassuring  ex- 
clamation :  '*  Well  !  Why  are  you  not  more 
energetic  ?  Count  Cavour  hesitates  to  confront 
the  scarecrow  represented  by  the  Legitimist 
volunteers  which  Pius  IX.  has  gathered  around 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  273 

his  banner  !  Do  you  think  that  the  whole  of 
France  is  ready  to  rush  to  the  aid  of  these 
discontented  loafers  ?  "  * 

Yet,  while  raising  no  objection  in  principle 
to  the  proposed  expedition,  the  Emperor 
deemed  it  more  prudent,  in  view  of  the  suspi- 
cion in  which  he  and  the  Piedmontese  Govern- 
ment were  regarded  by  the  Diplomacy  of 
Europe,  to  await  the  inevitable  result  of  the 
revolutionary  movement  on  Naples.  "Let 
Garibaldi  go  there  first,"  he  insisted,  *'  and 
you  can  go  afterwards."  A  month  earlier  he 
had  written  to  Count  Persigny,  his  Ambassador 
at  the  Court  of  Saint  James  :  "  I  am  anxious 
that  Italy  should  obtain  peace,  no  matter  how, 
so  that  I  can  withdraw  from  Rome,  and  that 
foreign  intervention  may  be  averted." 

The  presence  in  Rome  of  General  Lamori- 

ci6re,  a  brilliant,  but  anti- Napoleonic,  officer 

whose    record    in    Africa  had    been  a  most 

glorious  one,  and  who   now  commanded   the 

Pontifical   troops,   constituted  an  undoubted 

menace  to  the  success  of  Cavour's  proposed 

undertaking.     A  bigoted  Legitimist,  bitterly 

hostile  to  Napoleon  III.  and  his  policy,  while 

correspondingly  devoted  to  the  fanatical  and 

ultra-conservative  faction  at  the  Roman  Court, 

his  influence  would,  it  was  feared,  inevitably 

*  F^rini  and  Cialdini  to  Cavour,  August  29,  1860. 
i8 


274  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

tend  to  involve  France  in  any  quarrel  between 
the  Pope  and  the  Piedmontese  Government. 
The  dream  of  the  Papal  See  was  the  reconquest 
of  the  Romagna,  lost  owing  to  the  enforced 
withdrawal  of  Austrian  support  after  Villa- 
franca.  With  the  handful  of  troops  at  his 
disposal  General  LamoriciSre  could  naturally 
not  undertake  this  task  ;  yet  a  skilful  manipula- 
tion of  the  threatened  political  chaos  might 
make  such  an  enterprise  feasible  at  any  moment. 

The  assurances  given  Cavour's  envoys  at 
Chambery  were  consequently  of  the  utmost 
value  to  Piedmont.  If  left  alone  to  deal  with 
the  Papal  troops  and  their  French  commander, 
General  Cialdini  was  confident  of  success.  It 
only  remained  to  await  the  advent  of  a  pretext, 
the  seizure  of  which  would  not  too  violently 
shock  the  jealous  susceptibilities  of  European 
Diplomacy. 

Meanwhile  the  perplexities  of  the  Nea- 
politan Government  were  aggravated  by  the 
petty  and  continual  annoyances  devised  by 
the  members  of  the  **  Camarilla,"  who  seized 
every  Juncture  to  embarrass  and  vilify  the 
Constitutionalists.  The  reactionary  move- 
ment of  July  fifteenth,  misunderstood  by  the 
masses,  while  it  failed  to  yield  any  substan- 
tial profit  to  its  promoters,  had  undoubtedly 
increased  the  popular  suspicion  of  the  Court 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  276 

Party  ;  and  public  opinion  included  Francis 
in  this  faction,  failing  to  understand  how 
one  could  be  more  royalist  than  the  King. 
The  Clergy,  naturally  reactionary  and  ultra- 
conservative,  perceiving  that  Francis  was  being 
forced  by  the  revolutionary  tide  to  the  cession 
of  liberties  prejudicial  to  their  interests,  threw 
the  enormous  weight  of  their  authority  into 
the  scales,  and  through  the  manifold  secret 
3hannels  at  their  command,  urged  the  aban- 
donment of  the  Constitutional  pledges,  even 
though  such  a  course  entail  the  deposition  of 
the  King,  bloodshed,  and  all  the  horrors  of 
civil  war.  The  Count  of  Aquila,  who  aspired 
to  the  Regency,  was  supported  by  this  party, 
as  well  as  by  the  "  Camarilla."  The  conspir- 
acies of  this  Prince,  as  well  as  that  of  his 
henchman,  the  French  Legitimist  priest  de 
Saucli^res,  although  abortive,  and  under  less 
critical  circumstances  insignificant,  were,  never- 
theless, indications  of  the  disintegration  of  the 
Dynastic  principle.  Under  the  specification  of 
hardware,  the  Count  of  Aquila  had  secretly 
imported  from  France  a  quantity  of  uniforms 
and  weapons,  identical  with  those  used  by  the 
]!^ational  Guard.  The  plan  was  to  equip  a 
number  of  the  adherents  of  the  "Camarilla" 
frith  these  uniforms,  and  to  simulate  distnrb- 
ancee  between  the  populace,  or  rather  mob  of 


276  THE  COLLAi-SE  OF 

suborned  '^  lazzaroui/'  and  this  fictitious  Na> 
tional  Guard,  on  the  one  hand ;  while  other 
bodies  of  traversied  troops  mingled  with  th« 
real  Civic  Corps,  creating  confusion,  and  gir- 
ing  the  semblance  of  mutiny  in  the  ranks  «f 
the  upholders  of  the  Constitutional  privi- 
leges ;  thus  discrediting  the  Government,  and 
evincing  the  popular  aversion  to  the  lib- 
eral leaders.  This  decidedly  clumsy  plot 
was  easily  unearthed  hy  Romano's  police,  the 
arms  and  accoutrements  confiscated,  and 
documents,  clearly  compromising  the  Count, 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Government. 
The  affair  was  immediately  considered  by  the 
Council  of  Ministers,  in  special  session ;  and 
after  mature  deliberation  the  arrest  of  the 
Count  was  decided  on.  This  very  proper  de- 
cision was,  however,  not  carried  out,  owing  to 
the  repugnance  of  certain  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  who  feared  to  provoke  a  crisis  by  such 
extreme  measures,  and  was  commuted  into  an 
order  of  expulsion  from  the  Kingdom  within 
twenty-four  hours.  Francis,  although  cogni- 
zant of  the  nature  of  the  accusation,  and  of  the 
contents  of  the  incriminating  documents,  re- 
frained from  taking  part  in  the  deliberations 
of  the  Council.  He,  however,  approved  its 
decisions,  and  yielded  to  Spinelli's  emphatic 
demand  that  should  the  Count  of  Aqnila  re- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  277 

quest  an  audience  of  his  nephew,  this  fayor 
should  be  denied.  Owing  to  the  weakness  of 
the  Government,  or  the  insistence  of  the  cred- 
ulous Francis,  the  threatened  disgrace  was 
still  further  mitigated,  and  the  Count  left 
Naples  on  August  14th  on  an  improvised  mis- 
sion to  England  ;  nominally  for  the  purchase 
of  two  frigates  for  the  royal  navy. 

The  details  of  the  propaganda  undertaken 
by  the  priest  de  Sauclidres,  provided  for  a  sec- 
ond Saint  Bartholomew,  in  which  the  Liberals 
were  to  have  assigned  them  the  unenviable 
part  of  the  Huguenots.  De  Sauclidres,  when 
arrested,  confessed  that  the  conspiracy,  which 
he  stated  was  in  favor  of  the  King,  included 
in  its  ranks  "  the  highest  in  the  land."  That 
Francis  was  cognizant  of  the  conspiracy  before 
its  discovery  by  the  police  is  maintained  by 
certain  writers,  but  the  extent  of  its  ramifica- 
tions will  never  be  known,  for  the  Provisional 
Government  of  Garibaldi  quashed  the  proceed- 
ings against  its  participants,  by  virtue  of  the 
decree  of  September  11th,  granting  full  am- 
nesty for  all  political  crimes. 

The  moral  condition  of  the  capital  when  it 
became  known,  on  August  19th,  that  Garibaldi 
had  actually  passed  the  fleets  stationed  in  the 
Straits  of  Messina,  and  successfully  landed  at 
Melito,  is  indescribable.     The  fall  of  Reggio, 


278  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

and  the  military  promenade  through  Calabria, 
struck  terror  into  the  souls  of  the  Reactionists, 
while  it  intensified  the  frenzied  enthusiasm  of 
the  jubilant  Liberals.  The  King,  distraught 
by  the  conflicting  opinions  of  his  official  coun- 
sellors, hesitated  to  adopt  a  line  of  conduct. 
The  Diplomatic  Corps  beseeched  Francis  to 
spare  the  Capital  the  horrors  of  a  siege,  cul- 
minating with  the  inevitable  excesses  attend- 
ing a  triumphant  revolution.  Spinelli  advised 
energetic  action,  although  he  did  not  conceal 
his  apprehension  of  the  contamination,  and 
general  demoralization,  of  the  royal  troops. 
He  expressed  the  conviction,  however,  that 
should  the  King  place  himself  at  the  head  of 
his  regiments,  confidence  and  discipline  would 
be  restored.  "  At  least,"  he  urged,  **if  it  is 
our  destiny  to  succumb,  we  would  fall  with 
honor,  and  would  be  free  from  the  reproach  of 
fleeing  before  a  handful  of  men  whose  only 
strength  lies  in  the  prestige  of  their  chief."  It 
was  argued  that  this  prestige  rested  exclusively 
on  previous  abnormal  achievements,  and  that 
a  single  defeat  would  destroy  the  popular  cre- 
dence in  the  infallibility  of  the  hero.  The 
^*  Thousand"  who  had  landed  at  Marsala  had, 
it  is  true,  increased  to  fourteen  times  that 
number ;  but  these  were  badly  armed,  wretch- 
edly equipped,  and,  from  a  military  point  of 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  279 

view,  undisciplined,  besides  being  deficient  in 
artillery,  cavalry  and  commissariat,  and  with 
no  reserve  to  fall  back  upon  in  case  of  serious 
reverse.  Francis,  on  the  other  hand,  had  still 
nominally  at  his  command  some  forty-four 
thousand  men,  efficient  artillery,  and  (it  was 
asserted)  abundant  ammunition  and  provender 
for  man  and  beast,  besides  the  substantial  sum 
of  six  millions  of  ducats  in  the  treasury.  The 
Minister  of  War  had  prepared  a  plan  of  resist- 
ance acceptable  to  a  majority  of  his  colleagues, 
and  approved  by  Ischitella.  Francis  read  the 
document,  listened  to  the  counsels  of  his  mil- 
itary advisers,  and  with  characteristic  but 
fatal  irresolution  continually  postponed  his  de- 
cision. 

On  August  20th,  Liborio  Bomano  handed 
the  King  his  famous  memorandum.  This  docu- 
ment, not  having  been  indorsed  by  the  major- 
ity of  the  Cabinet,  was  presented  privately, 
and  on  the  personal  responsibility  of  the  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior.  After  summarizing  the 
political  situation  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
dwelling  on  the  lack  of  discipline,  and  conse- 
quent scant  trust  to  be  reposed  in  the  army, 
and  the  even  more  deplorable  conditions  pre- 
vailing in  the  marine  forces,  Romano  advances 
the  belief  that  "a.  return  of  the  confidence  of 
the  people  in  their  Prince  has  become  not  only 


280  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

difficult  bat  impossible."  Therefore  he  pro- 
poses, and  counsels,  that  the  King  leave  the 
country  for  a  time  at  least,  placing  the  tem- 
porary Regency  in  the  hands  of  a  Minister 
worthy  of  confidence.  The  Regency  of  a 
Royal  Prince  would  not  serve  the  purpose,  as 
it  would  not  command  public  confidence,  or 
**  offer  any  guarantee  for  the  interests  of  the 
Dynasty.**  Public  opinion  demanded  a  prompt 
decision — on  all  sides,  among  the  masses,  as 
well  as  in  the  ranks  of  those  natural  support- 
ers of  the  Crown,  the  Army  and  Navy,  there 
existed  profound  distrust.  The  Ministry  could 
do  nothing  to  avert,  or  reconcile,  this  universal 
scepticism  of  the  good  faith  of  the  Crown  ;  nor 
could  they  pretend  to  ignore  it.  The  Minister 
then  advises  that  Francis,  at  the  moment  of 
his  departure,  "  address  the  People  with  loyal 
and  magnanimous  words,  which  shall  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  kindness  of  your  paternal  heart, 
which  has  taken  this  noble  resolve  in  order  to 
spare  your  subjects  the  horrors  of  civil  war. 
Your  Majesty  will  then  have  recourse  to  the 
verdict  of  Europe,  and  will  await  from  time, 
and  the  justice  of  God,  the  return  of  confidence, 
and  the  triumph  of  your  legitimate  rights.'* 
Should  the  King,  in  his  wisdom,  decide  to  re- 
ject the  counsels  of  his  Minister,  Romano  adds 
that  no  other  course  would  be  open  to  him  but 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  281 

to  resign  the  high  office  with  which  he  has  been 
entrusted^  in  the  belief  that  he  no  longer  en- 
joys his  Sovereign's  confidence. 

On  a  first  reading  of  this  extraordinary 
document  we  are  inclined  to  brand  Liberie 
Romano  as  a  consummate  hypocrite,  but  a  more 
careful  perusal  discloses  the  fact  that  he  ex- 
aggerates, conceals  and  promises  nothing.  It 
is  patent  that  he,  as  other  thinking  men, 
realized  that  once  the  Bourbon  Throne  was 
vacated,  either  by  spontaneous  renunciation, 
or  the  forcible  ejection  of  its  occupant,  no 
foreign  or  domestic  power  could,  or  would,  re- 
store a  Dynasty  so  thoroughly  unsatisfactory, 
not  only  to  the  country  itself,  but  also  in  the 
eyes  of  progressive  Europe. 

Homano  has  been  stigmatized  as  an  arch- 
traitor  by  those  writers  who  sympathized  with 
Bourbon  rule  in  Naples,  and  as  has  been  said, 
the  Italian  Government  showed  no  desire  to 
retain  his  services  after  the  fall  of  the  Dynasty, 
although  Garibaldi  availed  himself  of  his  co- 
operation for  a  while.  He  was  undoubtedly 
instrumental  in  avoiding  unnecessary  blood- 
shed in  the  capital,  and  subsequent  events 
amply  justified  his  estimation  of  the  crisis. 
That  he  believed  the  advancement  of  his  per- 
sonal ambitions  to  be  compatible  with  the  best 
interests  of  his  country,  is  a  supposition  which 


282  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

would  be  considered  hazardous  by  many,  but 
is  not  contradicted  by  facts. 

The  startling  propositions  contained  in  the 
Minister's  memorandum  were  reiterated  four 
days  later  in  a  document  which,  considering 
the  source  from  which  it  came,  must  be  ac- 
knowledged as  infinitely  more  significant. 
The  Count  of  Syracuse  addressed  his  royal 
nephew  in  unequivocal  terms,  leaving  no  room 
for  doubt  as  to  the  extent  of  the  sacrifice  de- 
manded of  him. 

*'  Sire  : 

**  When  I  raised  my  voice  to  avert  the  perils 
which  threatened  our  House,  I  was  unheeded  ; 
see  to  it  that  now,  when  I  prophesy  still  greater 
misfortunes,  I  find  access  to  your  heart,  and 
that  I  be  not  refuted  by  short-sighted  and 
baneful  counsel. 

'*The  conditions  of  Italy  which  are  com- 
pletely changed  ;  the  ideal  of  National  Unity 
which  has  assumed  gigantic  proportions  dur- 
ing the  few  months  following  the  fall  of 
Palermo ;  have  deprived  Your  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment of  the  strength  which  upholds  States, 
and  rendered  impossible  an  alliance  with  Pied- 
mont. 

**  The  populations  of  Upper  Italy,  horrified 
by  the  reports  of  the  Sicilian  massacres,  re- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  288 

pulsed  the  Neapolitan  Ambassadors ;  and 
miserably  abandoned  to  the  hazards  of  arms 
alone,  deprived  of  alliances,  we  are  the  prey 
of  the  resentment  of  the  multitudes  which  rise 
up  in  all  parts  of  Italy  demanding  the  exter- 
mination of  our  House,  which  has  become  the 
target  for  general  reprobation.  Moreover,  tlie 
civil  war,  which  now  invades  the  continental 
provinces,  will  overwhelm  the  Dynasty  in  the 
supreme  ruin  which  the  crafty  manoBuvres  of 
perfidious  counsellors  has  long  since  prepared 
for  the  descendants  of  Charles  III.  of  Bour- 
bon. The  blood  of  citizens,  uselessly  shed, 
will  again  inundate  the  thousand  cities  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  you  who  were  the  hope,  and 
the  object  of  the  affection  of  the  people,  will 
be  contemplated  with  horror  as  the  sole  cause* 
of  a  fratricidal  war.  Sire  !  Save  our  House 
while  there  is  yet  time  :  preserve  it  from  the 
maledictions  of  all  Italy ;  imitate  the  example 
of  our  royal  relative  of  Parma,  who  released 
his  subjects  from  their  allegiance,  and  made 
them  the  arbiters  of  their  own  destiny,  as  soon 
as  civil  war  had  broken  out  in  his  Duchy. 
Europe,  and  your  People,  will  credit  you  for 
your  heroic  sacrifice  ;  you  will  be  enabled  to 
serenely  lift  your  face  before  God,  who  will  re- 
ward the  magnanimous  action  of  Your  Majesty. 
Your  soul  being  regenerated    through    mis- 


iJ84  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

fortune,  your  heart  will  expand  to  the  noble 
aspirations  of  the  Fatherland,  and  you  will 
bless  the  day  when  you  sacrificed  yourself  for 
the  greatness  of  Italy. 

"  With  these  words.  Sire,  I  simply  fulfil  the 
duty  imposed  by  my  long  experience,  and  I 
pray  God  that  He  guide  you,  and  render  you 
worthy  of  His  benedictions." 

Abandoned  by  Ministers  and  family  alike, 
the  unfortunate  Francis,  in  desperation,  is 
said  to  have  made  a  supreme  appeal  to  the 
wielder  of  the  avenging  sword  which  threatened 
to  sweep  away  his  Crown.  The  following 
almost  incredible  proposition  is  vouched  for 
by  several  contemporaneous  writers,  amongst 
*others  Signora  White-Mario,  who  accompanied 
her  husband  during  Garibaldi's  southern  cam- 
paign, and  Maxim  du  Camp,  who  relates  it  in 
his  personal  experiences.*  After  the  capitu- 
lation of  Soveria,  Garibaldi  received,  from  the 
hands  of  M.  J.  La  Cecilia,  a  letter  written  by 
the  order  of  Francis,  and  dated  August 
seventh,  by  the  terms  of  which  the  King 
offered  the  successful  General,  on  condition 
that  he  refrain  from  any  attempt  to  overturn 
the  Bourbon  Government :  (1)  The  abandon- 
ment of  Sicily,  which  should  be  allowed  to  de- 

*  "  Expedition  des  Deux-Sioiles."    Paris,  1861. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  288 

cide  its  own  destiny  by  universal  suffrage. 
(2)  The  free  passage  for  himself  and  his  army 
through  Neapolitan  territory,  without,  how- 
ever, traversing  Naples.  (3)  Three  millions 
of  ducats  in  cash.  (4)  The  co-operation  during 
six  months  of  fifty  thousand  men  of  the  royal 
troops,  as  well  as  the  fleet,  for  the  purpose  of 
attacking  Austria  in  Venetia,  or  the  Papal 
troops  at  Ancona.  (5)  The  right  of  raising 
volunteers  throughout  the  Kingdom, 

As  there  exists  no  official  documentary  evi- 
dence to  substantiate  their  assertions,  the  bur- 
den of  proof,  as  well  as  the  responsibility  of 
historical  accuracy,  must  rest  with  the  above- 
mentioned  authors.  Neither  Liborio  Romano, 
who  would  presumably  have  been  cognizant  of 
the  transaction,  owing  to  his  subsequent  offi- 
cial relations  with  Garibaldi,  nor  the  victorious 
General  himself,  make  any  reference  to  the 
letter  which,  clearly  branding  Francis  a  traitor 
to  country  and  traditions  alike,  would  have 
been  eagerly  fastened  upon  by  his  enemies  to 
stigmatize  him  as  such  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
and  especially  those  sympathizers  who  consid- 
ered he  had  been  unfairly  dealt  Avith. 

Although  Romano  had  warned  the  King,  in 
his  **  Memorandum  "  of  August  twentieth,  of 
the  futility  of  resistance,  or  serious  reliance  on 
the  loyalty  of  the  troops  still  nominally  at  the 


286  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

disposal  of  the  Crown,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
support  his  colleagues  in  the  Cabinet  in  their 
demands  for  immediate  and  energetic  action. 
Neither  did  he  apparently  deem  it  inconsistent 
to  retain  his  official  position,  in  spite  of  the 
threat  of  resignation  should  Francis  disregard 
the  advice  given.  The  myterious  conduct  of 
Liborio  Romano  has  been  commented  on  by 
writers  of  all  shades  of  political  opinions.  It 
is  difficult  to  explain  the  object  of  his  numer- 
ous intrigues  with  Royalists,  Liberals,  and  the 
adherents  of  Cavour,  Mazzini,  and  Garibaldi, 
unless  we  admit  that  he  sought  for  himself,  by 
virtue  of  his  undoubted  popularity  with  the 
masses  and  National  Guard,  the  position  of 
Regent,  or  Dictator,  pending  the  settlement  of 
the  vexed  question  of  the  future  of  the  Realm. 
His  immediate  acceptance  of  office  under  Gari- 
baldi does  not  destroy  this  hypothesis,  for  the 
victorious  General  had  loudly  proclaimed  his 
intention  of  at  once  passing  on  to  the  conquest 
of  Rome,  and  the  deliverance  of  Venetia  ;  the 
attempted  realization  of  which  projects  was 
alone  prevented  by  the  unexpected  stand  of 
the  Royalists  at  Capua,  combined  with  the  op- 
portune appearance  of  Cialdini  in  the  Papal 
States. 

To  the  ever-nearing  flood,  which  must  infal- 
libly overwhelm  him,  Francis  opposed  the  same 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  287 

listless  fatalism,  the  same  mystic  resignation, 
or  vacillating  concurrence  with  the  proposals  of 
his  advisers,  which  had  caused  the  despair  of 
his  well-wishers  since  the  beginning  of  his 
troubles.  The  energetic  decision  which  alone 
could  arrest,  or  at  least  postpone,  the  cataclysm, 
seemed  impossible  to  his  unstable  character, 
so  fatally  ready  to  yield  to  every  new  influence. 
Each  day  brought  tidings  of  the  defection  of 
adherents  whose  fidelity  was  reckoned  incor- 
ruptible ;  while  many  of  those  nearest  his  per- 
son now  forsook  their  allegiance,  and  openly 
joined  the  ranks  of  the  revolutionists.  All 
moral  authority  of  the  Government  appeared 
to  have  vanished.  Suspicion,  bad  faith,  malign 
accusations,  and  petty  self-seeking  intrigue, 
invaded  the  Palace,  the  offices  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  Civil  and  Military  Associations. 
The  southern  provinces,  the  Calabrias,  Puglie 
and  Basilicata  were  in  open  revolt.  On  all 
sides  Provisional  Governments  sprang  into  be- 
ing, and  placed  their  resources  of  men  and 
money  at  the  disposal  of  Garibaldi,  or  the  Dic- 
tator, as  he  was  already  styled.  Grossly  exag- 
gerated reports,  and  the  wildest  rumors,  were 
spread  about  the  capital,  dangerously  inflam- 
ing the  imagination  of  the  already  overwrought 
and  terrified  populace.  Yielding  to  the  mali- 
cious insinuations  of  the  ever  active  '*  Oama- 


288  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

rilla,"  and  in  direct  violation  of  the  advice  of 
his  Cabinet,  Francis  nominated  General  Cutro- 
fiano,  a  noted  reactionist,  and  advocate  of 
drastic  measures  of  suppression,  as  Governor 
of  Naples.  His  pernicious  counsels  were,  how- 
ever, annulled  or  rendered  innocuous,  by  indi- 
vidual members  of  the  Cabinet,  who  warned 
the  King  that  the  slightest  provocative  meas- 
ure would  hasten  the  explosion  of  popular 
fury,  and  involve  the  city  in  defiant  revolt,  re- 
sulting in  carnage  and  plunder. 

In  the  council  of  August  twenty-ninth,  the 
Cabinet,  alarmed  at  the  persistent  intrigues  of 
the  **  Camarilla,"  and  enigmatical  attitude  of 
the  King,  resolved  that  decisive  action  must 
be  forced  upon  him.  Spinelli,  President  of 
the  Council,  and  Pianell,  Minister  of  War,  in 
spite  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  loyal  support  of 
the  troops,  were  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  a 
2)lan  of  resistance,  and  so  solemnly  informed 
the  King  ;  making  it  clear  that  not  a  moment 
was  to  be  lost.  Francis  as  usual  agreed  with 
them,  and  promised  to  give  the  matter  his 
attention.  Next  day,  no  action  having  been 
taken,  the  Minister  of  War  declined  further 
responsibility  and  tendered  his  resignation. 
The  name  of  General  XJlloa,  whose  previous 
offers  to  combat  Garibaldi  had  been  declined, 
again  came  under  consideration,  but  met  with 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  289 

insurmountable  opposition.  On  the  evening 
of  September  first,  Pianell,  in  spite  of  his  equiy- 
ocal  official  status,  again  sought  the  King, 
and  urged  that  Francis  concentrate  the  forces 
at  his  command  in  some  well  chosen  position 
which  would  cover  the  capital,  and  there  make 
a  stand  against  the  enemy.  He  declared  his 
conviction  that  should  the  King  place  him- 
self frankly  at  the  head  of  these  troops,  which 
included  the  mercenary  regiments  largely  com- 
posed of  Bavarians,  and  men  from  the  Austrian 
Adriatic  provinces,  his  presence  would  inspire 
fresh  ardor,  and  re-establish  the  discipline, 
weakened  by  systematic  neglect,  and  the  dis- 
credit into  which  the  officers  had  fallen,  owing 
to  personal  jealousies  and  dissensions. 

Francis  appeared  inclined  to  accept  this  ad- 
vice, and  ordered  a  Military  Council  to  assem- 
ble at  the  Palace  next  day. 

Although  the  meeting  took  place  at  the  ap- 
pointed hour,  its  deliberations  came  to  naught ; 
in  consequence,  it  is  claimed  by  some,  of  the 
treacherous  attitude  assumed  by  several  of  its 
members.  General  Pianell,  irritated  beyond 
endurance  by  the  continual  rejection  of  his  ad- 
vice, and  deeply  mortified  at  the  evident  lank 
of  confidence  displayed,  insisted  on  the  accept- 
ance of  his  resignations  as  statesman  and  mili- 
tary commander,  accompanying  the  same  with 


290  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

a  letter  setting  forth  his  reasons  for  so  doing. 
He  left  for  France  the  following  morning,  not 
being  willing  to  witness  the  humiliations  in 
store  for  his  Sovereign. 

On  September  third,  having  exhausted  every 
means  of  inducing  the  King  to  attempt  to  save 
himself  and  his  country,  the  Cabinet,  following 
the  example  of  Pianell,  insisted  on  the  accept- 
ance of  their  resignations.  Francis,  while 
complying  with  their  wishes,  requested  the 
Ministers  to  remain  at  their  posts  until  their 
successors  had  been  selected.  The  formation 
of  a  new  Cabinet  which  could  cope  with  the 
overwhelming  odds,  and  yet  adhere  strictly  to 
the  spirit  as  well  as  the  letter  of  the  Constitu- 
tional guarantees,  was,  however,  obviously  im- 
possible. Garibaldi,  without  firing  a  shot,  or 
striking  a  blow,  was  within  a  few  days'  march 
of  the  capital  ;  and  for  widely  different  reasons, 
Cavour  and  the  **  Camarilla"  were  anxious 
that  disturbances  should  break  out  before  his 
arrival.  Rumors  were  actively  circulated  that 
the  forts  were  about  to  fire  upon  the  city  ;  the 
lowest  element  of  the  populace  being  reported 
as  eagerly  expectant  of  the  plunder  which 
must  fall  to  their  share  in  the  ensuing  con- 
fusion. To  the  vigilance  and  authority  of  the 
National  Militia  during  these  days  and  nights 
of  unreasoning  panic  and  universal  intrigue, 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  291 

great  credit  is  due,  and  whatever  stigma  may 
be  attached  to  the  political  fame  of  Liborio 
Romano,  his  salutary  influence  over  this  body 
for  the  preservation  of  order  cannot  be  disputed. 
On  the  morning  of  the  fourth,  the  alarming 
news  that  considerable  reinforcements  for 
Garibaldi  had  been  landed  not  far  from  Salerno, 
brought  together  a  hastily  summoned  council 
of  war,  attended  by  all  the  Generals  available. 
The  unanimous  opinion  expressed  by  his 
military  advisers  convinced  the  King  that 
effective  opposition  to  the  entry  of  Garibaldi 
into  Naples  was  now  impossible.  Should  the 
troops  about  Salerno  be  called  upon  to  attack 
the  popular  idol,  it  was  averred,  they  would 
either  disband,  or  go  over  in  a  body  to  the 
revolutionists.  It  was  agreed  that  the  only 
efficient  line  of  defence  now  lay  between  Capua 
and  Gaeta,  to  the  north  of  the  capital ;  and 
Francis  was  advised  to  evacuate  Naples,  leaving 
small  garrisons  in  the  three  forts,  and  intrust- 
ing the  maintenance  of  public  order  to  the 
National  Guard.  There  being  no  longer  a 
Minister  of  War,  the  Generals  assembled  in 
council  signed  the  report,  which  was  handed 
to  the  King.  The  venerable  General  Carras- 
cosa  alone,  when  consulted  privately  by  his 
young  Sovereign,  disapproved  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  capital.     ''  If  Your  Majesty  leaves 


292  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Naples,"  he  muttered,  "  you  will  never  return 
again."  General  Prince  Ischitella,  although 
he  signed  the  report  with  his  colleagues,  em- 
phasized his  disgust  at  his  perfunctory  action 
by  flinging  away  the  pen,  and  leaving  Naples 
the  same  evening. 

Spinelli  was  again  summoned  by  the  King 
early  on  the  morning  of  September  fifth,  when 
Francis  informed  him  that  he  had  decided  to 
leave  Naples  for  Gaeta,  and  from  the  shelter  of 
that  stronghold  vindicate  his  claims.  After 
instructing  the  Premier  to  prepare  a  farewell 
proclamation  to  his  Neapolitan  subjects,  Fran- 
cis and  Maria  Sophia,  accompanied  by  two 
gentlemen  of  their  suite,  went  for  a  drive  in  an 
open  carriage.  They  were  greeted  formally, 
even  respectfully,  by  the  passers-by.  When 
opposite  the  Foresteria,  so  soon  to  be  occupied 
by  Garibaldi,  an  humiliating  evidence  of  the 
altered  spirit  of  the  times  was  cruelly,  though 
unwittingly,  thrust  upon  the  unfortunate 
Sovereign.  At  the  corner  stood  the  Royal 
Pharmacy,  the  signboard  of  which  was  deco- 
rated with  the  Bourbon  lilies.  A  ladder,  placed 
against  the  side  of  the  shop,  so  encumbered 
the  street  that  the  carriage  was  brought  to  a 
momentary  halt.  Glancing  up  Francis  beheld 
a  couple  of  workmen  busily  engaged  in  effac- 
ing the  Bourbon  emblems.     Smiling  sadly,  but 


THE  KINGDOM  01  NAPLES.  293 

otherwise  unmoved,  Francis  drew  the  attention 
of  his  Consort  to  the  prudential  measure  of  the 
politic  apothecary  ;  and  ordered  the  coachman 
to  return  to  the  Palace.* 

The  remainder  of  the  day  was  passed  in 
transacting  the  official  business  necessitated  by 
the  King's  departure.  Receiving  the  chiefs 
of  the  National  Militia,  with  their  new  Com- 
mander, De  Sauget,  at  their  head,  Francis 
communicated  to  them  his  decision  to  leave  the 
capital  temporarily,  and  intrusted  them  with 
the  maintenance  of  order  during  his  absence, 
which  he  asserted  would  be  of  brief  duration. 
In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  a  Council  of 
State  was  held,  during  which  decrees  of  minor 
importance  appertaining  to  the  routine  of  the 
various  Departments  were  presented  and 
signed.  Before  dismissing  his  Ministers  Fran- 
cis instructed  De  Martino,  who  was  in  charge 
of  the  portfolio  for  Foreign  Relations,  to 
prepare  a  protest  to  the  European  Powers,  and 
to  submit  the  draft  for  his  approval  during  the 
course  of  the  evening.  Spinelli  handed  the 
King  the  draft  of  this  document,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  farewell  proclamation,  late  that 
night.  Francis  signed  both  with  but  a  passing 
comment  on  the  style  of  their  composition^ 
irhich  he  recognized  as  that  of  Romano. 
•  Memor  **  La  Fin  di  un  Regno." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Ttoewell  proclamation  and  protest.— Suspicions  of  treachery.— 
Preparations  for  departure. — The  gunboat  "Messagero." — 
Beceptlon  of  Ministers  and  Diplomatists.— The  Sovereigns 
leave  the  Palace.— Refusal  of  Neapolitan  war-ships  to 
follow  King.— The  voyage  to  Gaeta.— The  King  and  Queen 
during  journey.— Arrival  at  Qaeta. 

September  sixth  dawned  bright  and  fair. 
On  the  street  corners  groups  of  excited 
citizens  discussed  the  farewell  proclamation, 
which  had  been  published  during  the  early 
morning  hours,  and  was  conspicuously  plac- 
arded over  the  town. 

In  language  impregnated  with  deep  resigna- 
tion, singularly  free  from  resentment,  and  not 
devoid  of  a  certain  dignity,  Francis  informed 
his  subjects  that,  although  at  peace  with  all 
Europe,  **an  unjust  war  contrary  to  the  rights 
of  Nations"  had  invaded  his  realm,  forcing 
him  to  absent  himself  from  the  capital.  "  My 
governmental  reforms  :  my  adhesion  to  the 
great  National  and  Italian  principles  could  not 
avert  it :  moreover,  the  necessity  of  defending 
the  integrity  of  the  State  provoked  incidents 
294 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  295 

which  I  always  lamented.  I  solemnly  protest 
against  this  unjustifiable  hostility,  on  which 
the  present  and  future  ages  will  pronounce 
severe  judgment."  In  order  to  spare  his 
Neapolitan  subjects  the  horrors  of  war,  as  well 
as  to  insure  the  preservation  of  the  National 
edifices,  museums,  and  collections  of  priceless 
value,  Francis  states  that,  together  with  a 
portion  of  his  army,  he  now  goes  forth  to 
defend  his  rights.  The  remainder  of  his  troops 
will  be  left  in  the  city  to  watch  over,  in  concert 
with  the  National  Militia,  *'  the  security  and 
the  inviolability  of  the  capital."  To  the 
Ministry,  the  Syndic  of  Naples  and  the  Com- 
mander of  the  National  Militia,  is  intrusted 
the  task  of  avoiding  the  evils  of  civil  disorders, 
and  the  disasters  of  war,  to  which  end  the  fullest 
powers  are  conferred  upon  them.  In  taking 
leave  of  his  fellow-citizens  Francis  adds  :  "  I 
recommend  to  them  union,  peace,  and  the 
fulfilment  of  their  duties  as  citizens.  Let  not 
an  excessive  attachment  to  my  Crown  become 
a  source  of  trouble.  If  the  chances  of  the 
present  war  should  lead  me  back  amongst  you  ; 
if  on  some  future  day,  which  it  may  please 
Divine  Providence  to  determine,  I  regain  the 
Throne  of  my  ancestors,  rendered  more  illus- 
trious on  account  of  the  liberal  institutions 
with  which  I  have  surrounded  it,  my  sole  desire 


296  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

will  be  to  find  my  people  united,  powerful  and 
happy." 

This  proclamation  was  accompanied  by  one 
from  the  Prefect  of  Police,  calling  upon  all 
citizens  to  maintain  strict  order,  and  not 
"rashly  compromise  the, glorious  destinies 
now  dawning  "  over  their  country. 

Naples  was  in  a  state  of  mingled  curiosity, 
stupor,  and  terror.  The  mysterious  prepara- 
tions at  the  Palace,  and  the  departure  of  large 
bodies  of  troops,  encouraged  speculations  of 
the  wildest  nature.  It  was  asserted  that  the 
wording  of  the  proclamation  was  ambiguous  : 
that  its  fair  speaking  was  a  snare  to  lull  the 
suspicions  of  the  Liberals,  in  order  the  more 
readily  to  overwhelm  and  destroy  them.  The 
fact  that  some  six  thousand  men,  exclusive  of 
the  National  Militia,  were  left  to  garrison  the 
forts  of  Carmine,  the  Egg,  and  that  of  St. 
Elmo,  as  well  as  to  guard  the  Arsenal,  gave 
anbstanee  to  the  fears  entertained  by  many 
that  Garibaldi's  advent  would  be  the  signal 
for  a  general  bombardment,  which  must  in- 
evitably result  in  a  rising  of  the  **  lazzaroni," 
and  lower  strata  of  the  plebs,  and  the  sack 
of  the  city.  Many  families  notoriously  con- 
nected with  the  old  regime  left  Naples,  not 
trusting  in  the  ability  of  the  Militia  to  over- 
awe   and   restrain  the   infuriated   populace. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  297 

under  circumstances  which  seemed  now  un- 
avoidable. 

During  the  night  of  September  fifth  numer- 
ous baggage  vans,  escorted  by  soldiers,  left  the 
Royal  Palace,  and  turned  in  the  direction  of 
Capua  ;  while  on  the  following  morning  large 
quanties  of  luggage  were  hurried  on  board  the 
two  small  steamers,  "Messagero"  and  **  Del- 
fino,**  anchored  in  the  Military  Port,  under 
the  guns  of  the  Arsenal.  Although  Francis 
carried  with  him  considerable  personal  prop- 
erty, little  or  no  treasure,  or  articles  of  intrin- 
sic value,  were  removed.  The  enormous  ac- 
cumulations of  gold  and  silver  plate  belonging 
to  the  Royal  Household  were  left  in  Naples, 
and  integrally  turned  over  to  the  Government 
established  by  Garibaldi  by  those  in  charge. 
Nor  did  Francis  attempt  to  withdraw  from 
the  Banks  his  private  treasure,  amounting  to 
nearly  eleven  millions  of  ducats.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  special  instructions  of  the  King, 
none  of  the  valuable  pictures,  or  furniture, 
decorating  the  Palace,  and  forming  the  private 
property  of  the  Crown,  was  removed  ;  with  the 
exception  of  two  portraits  by  Van  Dyke,  and 
Raffael's  Madonna,  to  which  latter  picture  he 
was  particularly  attached. 

Orders  had  been  issued  to  the  Commander 
of  the  **  Massagero,"  a  small  gunboat  of  250 


298  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

tons,  to  hold  his  vessel  in  readiness  to  sail  for 
Gaeta  at  six  that  evening.  Although  the  per- 
sonal devotion  and  loyalty  of  the  Captain, 
Vincenzo  Criscuolo,  was  beyond  question,  the 
same  could  not  be  said  for  all  the  members  of 
his  crew,  and  it  transpired  later  that  threats 
were  employed  to  compel  the  firemen  to  re- 
main at  their  posts.  Another  panic  was 
created  shortly  before  the  departure  of  the 
Sovereigns,  by  the  action  of  the  Piedmontese 
frigates,  "  Maria  Adelaide  "  and  "  Maria  Pia," 
which  suddenly  slipped  from  their  former 
moorings,  and  took  up  positions  directly 
opposite  the  Military  Port,  almost  blocking  the 
narrow  channel.  This  was  interpreted  as  in- 
dicative of  an  attempt  to  be  made  to  prevent 
the  departure  of  the  royal  party  ;  and  Francis 
was  earnestly  pleaded  with  to  leave  the  city 
secretly,  or  under  the  protection  of  a  foreign 
flag.  Criscuolo  was,  however,  successful  in 
prevailing  on  the  King  not  to  leave  his  capital 
as  a  fugitive,  but  to  depart  openly  on  board 
his  own  vessel,  and  under  his  own  flag. 

The  Ministers  took  leave  of  the  King  shortly 
before  the  hour  fixed  for  his  departure.  Fran- 
cis received  them  courteously,  and  addressed  a 
few  words  of  thanks,  or  admonition,  to  each  in 
turn.  Although  the  King  affected  indiffer- 
ence, the  great  effort  he  made  to  control  him- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  299 

self  was  evident  to  all.  In  taking  leave  of 
Spinelli  and  De  Martino,  he  displayed  affection- 
ate regret :  to  Liborio  Romano,  after  recom- 
mending him  to  watch  ceaselessly  that  public 
order  be  not  disturbed,  he  remarked  with 
warning  significance  :  "  But  look  out  for  your 
head,  Don  Liborio."  To  which  Romano  re- 
plied :  **  Sire,  I  will  see  to  it  that  it  remain 
on  my  shoulders  as  long  as  possible." 

The  Diplomatic  Corps  was  not  received 
officially,  although  most  of  the  members,  to 
whom  De  Martino  had  communicated  the  King's 
protest  addressed  to  their  Governments,  went 
privately  to  bid  the  Sovereign  farewell.  With 
the  exception  of  the  English,  French,  and 
Piedmontese  Envoys,  all  the  diplomatists 
accredited  to  the  Neapolitan  Court  eventually 
received  instructions  to  follow  the  King  to 
Gaeta,  where  many  of  them  remained  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  subsequent  siege. 

Besides  the  officials  accompanying  the  Court, 
hardly  twenty  persons  assembled  at  the  Palace 
for  the  final  hand-kissing.  The  numerous 
courtiers,  and  beneficiaries  of  the  royal  favors 
had  melted  away  with  the  first  indications  of 
approaching  calamity. 

The  Sovereigns  left  the  Palace  on  foot  for 
the  landing  stage,  Maria  Sophia  leaning  on  her 
husband's  arm,  calm  and  outwardly  cheerful. 


300  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

The  members  of  the  suite,  and  those  of  the 
Military  Household  who  still  preserved  their 
functions,  followed  the  royal  couple  through  the 
gardens  and  passages  leading  to  the  Watergate. 

Before  leaving  the  harbor,  Francis  instructed 
Commander  Criscuolo  to  signal  orders  to  the 
Neapolitan  war-vessels  anchored  in  the  roads, 
to  follow  him  to  Gaeta  ;  but  these  signals  were 
ignored.  When  hardly  out  of  sight  of  the  city 
a  squadron  of  four  vessels  of  the  Royal  Marine 
was  met ;  these  also  refused  to  obey  the  royal 
commands. 

The  voyage  was  a  mournful  one.  No  re- 
freshments had  been  prepared  :  indeed  all  were 
too  absorbed  by  the  anxieties  of  the  moment  to 
think  of  food.  About  ten  o'clock  the  Queen 
retired  to  a  small  deck-cabin,  and  rested  on  a 
sofa.  Francis  passed  the  night  alternately 
pacing  the  deck,  plunged  in  solitary  medita- 
tion, or  in  fitful  conversation  with  the  devoted 
Criscuolo.  About  two  in  the  morning  he 
asked  if  the  Queen  had  retired,  and  on  being 
informed  that  she  still  slept  in  the  deck-house, 
entered  noiselessly,  and  threw  his  own  mantle 
over  the  recumbent  form  of  his  unfortunate 
young  consort. 

At  six  in  the  morning  the  "  Messagero  *' 
steamed  into  the  harbor  of  Gaeta ;  and  the  last 
act  of  the  drama  was  begun. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Naples  remains  calm.— OfiFer  to  land  Piedmontese  troops  re- 
fused.—Commission  appointed  to  meet  Oaribaldi.  —  His 
communications  with  Romano. — An  officious  Provisional 
Government.— Garibaldi  enters  Naples.— His  reception  by 
populace.— Evacuation  by  Royalist  troops.  —  Garibaldi's 
loyalty  suspected  at  Turin.— Romano's  attempts  at  recon- 
ciliation.—Mistakes  of  Dictator's  Government.— The  Pied- 
montese ultimatum  to  the  Pope.— Cavour's  justification.— 
Piedmontese  troops  enter  Papal  States.— Diplomatic  pro- 
tests.—Napoleon  privately  approves. 

Meanwhile  Naples  remained  outwardly 
calm.  The  theatres  and  other  places  of  amuse- 
ment were  open,  although  less  frequented  than 
usual.  The  busy  street  life  of  the  great  city 
preserved  its  every-day  animation,  yet  the  mul- 
titudes which  thronged  the  Toledo  and  prin- 
cipal thoroughfares  wore  an  air  of  general  ex- 
pectancy and  anxiety  foreign  to  the  pleasure- 
loving  populace  of  the  southern  metropolis. 

The  offer  of  the  Marquis  Villamarina  to 
land  troops  from  the  Piedmontese  war-vessels 
to  assist  in  the  maintenance  of  order  was  re- 
fused by  the  Ministry,  which  called  on  the 
301 


302  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Syndic  and  Commander  of  the  National  Guard 
to  concert  the  measures  to  be  taken  to  hand  over 
the  material  resources  of  the  city  to  Garibaldi. 
As  a  consequence  of  these  deliberations  the 
Syndic,  Prince  of  Alessandria,  and  General  de 
Sauget,  were  charged  with  the  duty  of  nego- 
tiating with  Garibaldi  at  Salerno  next  morn- 
ing. Special  messengers  were  despatched  im- 
mediately to  announce  the  departure  of  the 
King,  and  to  acquaint  the  Dictator  with  the 
plans  of  the  authorities  in  the  capital,  and  of 
the  arrangements  proposed  for  his  reception. 

The  messengers  delivered  their  communica- 
tions to  Garibaldi  late  the  same  evening,  and 
before  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
seventh,  the  following  telegram  was  received 
by  Romano : 

"As  soon  as  the  S3aidic  and  Commander 
of  the  National  Guard,  whom  I  await,  shall 
have  arrived,  I  will  come  to  you.  During 
these  anxious  moments  I  recommend  you  to 
maintain  the  order  and  calm  befitting  the 
dignity  of  a  People  about  to  enter  upon  the 
possession  of  their  individual  rights. 
''The  Dictator  of  the  Two  Sicilies, 

"Joseph  Garibaldi." 

Bomano  instantly  replied  as  follows  : 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  303 

**  To  the  Invincible  General  Garibaldi,  Dictator 
of  the   Two   Sicilies.     Liborio    Romano, 
Minister  of  the  Interior  and  Police. 
**  With  the  greatest  impatience  Naples  awaits 
your  arrival  in  order  to  salute  you  as  the  Re- 
deemer of  Italy,  and  place  in  your  hands  the 
reins  of  Government,  and  the  direction  of  its 
destinies.     "While  awaiting  this  I  will  firmly 
preserve   public  order  and  tranquillity ;  your 
authority,  already  made  known  by  me  to  the 
populace,  is  the  best  guarantee  of  the  success 
of  this  task.     I  await  your  further  orders,  and 
am  with  unlimited  respect.  Most    Invincible 
Dictator,  yours, 

**  Liborio  Romano. 

"Naples,  September?,  I860." 

While  Romano  insists  that  instantaneous 
and  unconditional  annexation  to  the  Kingdom 
of  Italy  was  desired  by  the  Committee  of  Or- 
der, he  yet  states  that  the  Ministry  considered 
such  a  course  "fraught  with  perils  and  com- 
plications." He  asserts  in  his  memoirs,*  that, 
in  the  estimation  of  those  left  in  authority  by 
Francis,Naples  should  retain  untrammelled  pos- 
session of  her  rights,  and  that  the  fusion  with 
the  rest  of  Italy,  if  desired,  should  result,  not 

*  "  Memorie  Politiche  di  Liborio  Romano,"  Naples, 
1873. 


304  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

as  the  compulsory  annexation  of  a  conqnered 
people,  but  as  the  outcome  of  free  option,  and 
with  the  recognition  of  the  rights  of  an  equal ; 
the  conditions  and  nature  of  the  compact  being 
determined,  as  in  the  instance  of  many  of  the 
smaller  States,  by  a  Plebiscite.  This  explana- 
tion is  not  in  absolute  harmony  with  the  text 
of  Komano's  enthusiastic  despatch  to  Garibaldi, 
wherein  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  proclaims 
Naples'  impatience  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the 
Dictator  "the  reins  of  government,  and  the 
direction  of  its  destinies." 

That  unconditional  surrender  as  in  the  case 
of  a  conquered  foe  was  distasteful  to  the  late 
Ministers  is  conceivable ;  yet  as  Garibaldi  came 
in  the  name  of  Italian  Unity,  and  of  Victor 
Emmanuel,  the  objection  to  the  co-operation 
of  that  Sovereign's  accredited  representaitve 
appears  contradictory.  The  explanation  is  to 
be  found,  in  part,  in  the  jealousies  and  friction 
which  existed,  and  had  for  some  time  existed, 
between  the  more  ardent  Ministers  of  the 
Crown  and  the  Marquis  de  Villamarina,  who 
was  for  political  considerations  (not  to  say  per- 
sonal ambitions)  anxious  to  wrest  from  them, 
and  from  Garibaldi,  as  large  a  part  as  possible 
of  the  prestige  attaching  to  the  annexation. 
Eomano  has  stated  that  his  earnest  desire  was 
to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  between  Gari- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  806 

baldi  and  Cavour,  and  it  is  admissible  that  he 
feared  the  possible  consequences  should  the 
Dictator  find  the  fruits  of  his  victoriessnatched 
from  him,  the  city  practically  in  the  hands  of 
Cavour's  agents,  and  occupied  by  the  Pied- 
montese  troops. 

Certain  of  the  Cavouriani,  with  Pisanelli  at 
their  head,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
Ministry  still  remained  nominally  in  office,  and 
that  the  National  Militia  was  prepared  to  en- 
force its  commands,  determined  to  establish  a 
Provisional  Government  pending  the  arrival  of 
Garibaldi,  and  forthwith  issued  a  decree  call- 
ing upon  all  good  citizens  to  assist  in  preserv- 
ing order.  Ten  minutes  after  the  promulga- 
tion of  this  decree,  it  became  known  that  the 
General  was  actually  on  his  way  to  the  city, 
and  this  self-constituted  Assembly  promptly 
issued  another,  officiously  creating  him  **  Dic- 
tator." When  informed  of  these  proceedings 
Garibaldi,  deeming  himself  slighted,  and  his 
dignity  as  conqueror  offended,  ordered  the 
arrest  of  the  presumptuous  politicians.  Ro- 
mano, however,  realizing  the  danger  of  friction, 
or  desirous  of  being  serviceable  to  Cavour,  was 
instrumental  in  so  arranging  matters  that  the 
order  of  arrest  was  revoked,  and  Pisanelli 
SiCtually  became  a  member  of  th^^  Dictator's 
Government. 
so 


THE  COLLAPSE  OF 


Meanwhile,  ignorant  of  the  dissensions 
amongst  the  annexationists,  or  more  probably 
conscious  that  he  could  afford  to  ignore  them. 
Garibaldi  started  for  the  capital.  Leaving 
Salerno  by  train  on  the  morning  of  September 
seventh,  the  conqueror,  accompanied  only  by 
General  Cozenz  and  Doctor  Bertani,  without 
escort  or  following,  alighted  at  the  railway  sta- 
tion in  Naples  at  noon.  Eomano  and  a  vast 
multitude  were  there  to  greet  him  ;  the  former 
ready  with  a  discourse  impregnated  with  ful- 
some flattery  and  extravagant  optimism  ;  the 
latter  with  an  enthusiasm  born  rather  of  re- 
lief at  the  escape  from  unknown  danger,  than 
of  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  altered 
political  conditions  symbolized  in  the  person  of 
the  red-shirted  warrior.  Entering  an  open 
carriage,  the  Dictator  and  his  friends  drove 
slowly  through  the  densely  crowded  streets,  un- 
der the  forts  garrisoned  by  the  Bourbon  troops, 
and  past  the  guard-houses  of  the  Bavarian  mer- 
cenaries, to  the  palace  of  the  Foresteria.  Gari- 
baldi modestly  refused  to  occupy  the  Eoyal 
Palace,  so  recently  vacated  by  Francis,  declar- 
ing that  it  should  remain  untenanted  until 
Victor  Emmanuel's  advent.  Yielding  to  the 
frantic  entreaties  of  the  multitude  assembled 
beneath  the  windows  of  the  Foresteria,  the 
Dictator,  in  a  few  words  thanked  the  people. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  807 

"  in  the  name  of  all  Italians  and  of  Humanity, 
for  the  sublime  deed  which  has  this  day  been 
accomplished  ;  "  and  submitted  to  an  embrace, 
which  the  donor,  General  d'Ayala,  magnilo- 
quently  assured  him  was  *'the  kiss  of  five  hun- 
dred thousand  Neapolitans/'  Again  entering 
his  carriage.  Garibaldi  and  his  companions 
proceeded  to  the  Cathedral  to  do  homage  at  the 
shrine  of  Saint  Gennaro,  and  assist  at  the  Te 
Deum  and  solemn  benediction.  At  the  Dic- 
tator's request,  Romano  now  seated  himself 
beside  him,  and  drove,  amidst  scenes  of  the 
wildest  enthusiasm,  to  the  Angri  Palace,  where 
the  headquarters  of  the  Government  and  the 
General's  Staff  were  established  ;  and  where  he 
shortly  received  the  chiefs,  military  and  civil, 
who  had  renounced  their  allegiance  to  the 
Bourbon  Dynasty. 

Among  the  astounding  incidents  of  this  un- 
paralleled appropriation  of  the  capital  of  a 
great  Kingdom,  must  be  noted  the  orderly 
and  unmolested  evacuation  by  the  Royalist 
troops  of  the  forts  and  garrisons.  Their  march 
through  the  streets,  re-echoing  with  joyful  ac- 
clamations for  Italian  Unity  and  Victor  Em- 
manuel, on  their  way  to  join  their  comrades  on 
the  Voltumo  to  fight  under  the  banner  of  the 
King  whose  overthrow  the  inhabitants  were 
celebrating,  resembled  a  parade  rather  than  a 


808  TBE  COLLAPSE  OF 

retreat.  Yet  fidelity  to  the  Bourbon  Prince 
was  by  no  means  unanimous  amongst  those 
who  had  remained  passive  spectators  of  the 
Dictator's  entry  :  many  officers  and  men  now 
availed  themselves  of  the  freedom  afforded  to 
throw  in  their  lot  with  the  new  regime,  while 
others,  less  martially  inclined,  abandoned  the 
struggle  and  sought  the  seclusion  of  their  na- 
tive villages. 

Hardly  less  anomalous  was  the  spectacle 
offered  devout  Neapolitans  when  Garibaldi,  on 
the  day  after  his  arrival,  made  his  way  in  a 
hired  vehicle  to  the  shrine  of  the  Virgin,  at 
Piedigrotta,  which  the  Bourbon  Monarchs  were 
accustomed  to  visit  annually  on  this  same  date, 
attended  by  great  pomp  and  military  parade, 
in  commemoration  of  the  accession  of  their 
Dynasty  to  the  Throne  of  Naples. 

Once  in  possession  of  the  capital.  Garibaldi's 
first  official  act  decreed  that  all  vessels  of  war, 
arsenals,  armaments,  and  marine  supplies,  be- 
longing to  the  State  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  be 
transferred  to  the  fleet  of  the  King  of  Italy, 
Victor  Emmanuel,  and  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  Admiral  Persano.  (Considerable  apprehen- 
sion had  existed  that  Francis  might  be  success- 
ful in  prevailing  upon  the  Commanders  to  hand 
over  their  vessels  to  Austria.)  Although  this 
spontaneous  and  tangible  token  of  the  loyalty 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  809 

of  the  victorious  freebooters  was  calculated  to 
reassure  those  who  had  questioned  the  purity 
of  his  intentions,  it  did  not,  strange  as  it  may 
appear,  completely  allay  the  suspicions  of  the 
authorities  in  Turin.  Not  that  the  personal 
oyalty  of  the  chief  was  seriously  doubted,  as 
has  been  already  stated,  but  surrounded  by  such 
political  agitators  as  Mazzini,  and  urged  for- 
ward by  Bertani,  and  others,  who  had  seconded 
him  in  the  Sicilian  venture,  it  was  felt  that  his 
ambitions,  or  those  of  his  counsellors,  might 
yet  provoke  European  intercession,  aud  jeopar- 
dize the  fruits  of  previous  successes.  That 
substantial  cause  existed  for  this  is  evinced  by 
the  fact  that  on  September  tenth,  three  days 
after  his  arrival  in  Naples,  Garibaldi  told  Mr. 
Elliot,  British  Minister  at  the  Court  of  the  Two 
Sicilies,  that  he  intended  to  push  on  to  Rome, 
and  when  that  city  was  in  his  hands,  offer  the 
Crown  of  United  Italy  to  Victor  Emmanuel, 
upon  whom  would  then  devolve  the  task  of  the 
liberation  of  Venetia.  He  spoke  of  the  Em- 
peror of  the  French  with  contempt  and  defi- 
ance. * 

The  organization  of  the  first  Ministry  was 
left  virtually  in  the  hands  of  Liborio  Romano, 


*  Despatch  September  10.  Mr.  Elliot  to  Lord  John 
Russell. 


310  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

and  Agostino  Bertani,  Garibaldi^s  trusted  and 
able  liieutenant,  and  "alter  ego,"  during  the 
preparation  of  the  Sicilian  expedition.  Eomano 
claims  that  his  principal  preoccupation  in  the 
selection  of  his  colleagues  was  to  surround  the 
Dictator  with  men  devoted  to  Cavour,  and  thus 
establish  a  link  between  the  two  great  factors 
of  Italian  Unity.  This  chimerical  opportunism 
was  foredoomed  to  failure.  Bertani  strenuously 
contested  the  influence  of  the  Constitutional- 
ists, urging  that  a  Ministry  responsible  before 
the  Nation  for  its  actions  was  incompatible 
with  the  dignity  and  prerogatives  of  a  Military 
Dictator.  He  was,  in  fact,  desirous  of  seeing 
his  chief  legally  vested  with  powers  as  auto- 
cratic, and  absolutist,  as  those  wielded  by  any 
of  the  detested  tyrants  whose  unfortunate  suc- 
cessor had  just  been  dethroned.  The  conse- 
quence was  immediate  friction,  and  bitter  ani- 
mosity. Three  days  after  their  nomination,  the 
members  of  the  Ministry  felt  constrained  to 
tender  their  resignations  ;  while  within  fourteen 
days  of  its  formation  the  struggle  between  the 
Cabinet  and  the  Secretariat  of  the  Dictator, 
presided  over  by  Bertani,  had  become  so  acute 
that  the  Ministers  were,  at  their  urgent  de- 
mand, relieved  of  office.  The  retiring  statesmen 
handed  the  Dictator  a  document  setting  forth 
the  perils  of  a  policy  which  ignored  the  Consti- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  311 

tutional  Guarantees  vouchsafed  by  the  late  Gov- 
ernment, and  vested  with  illimitable  powers  the 
representatives  of  the  new  regime  in  the  vari- 
ous provinces  ;  some  of  which  already  began  to 
display  symptoms  of  a  reactionary  character 
which  demanded  the  most  delicate  and  judi- 
cious handling  to  prevent  blazing  forth  in  frank 
and  open  acclamation  in  favor  of  the  deposed 
Dynasty. 

Meanwhile  Cavour,  who  had  foreseen  the 
Roman  difficulty  from  the  moment  that  Gari- 
baldi proposed  to  cross  the  Straits  of  Messina, 
had,  as  we  have  seen,  made  preparation  to 
meet  it  with  a  stroke  of  policy  as  audacious  as 
any  conceived  by  the  red-shirted  hero  of  the 
Pampas.  His  agents  secretly  canvassed  the 
Marches  and  Umbria,  and  encouraged  the  dis- 
position to  revolt  against  the  Papal  authority, 
with  promises  of  the  co-operation  of  the  Italian 
troops  at  the  opportune  moment.  This  crisis 
Cavour  deemed  to  have  occurred  when  Francis 
fled  from  his  capital  before  the  Garibaldian 
advance. 

Consequently,  on  September  seventh,  the 
Piedmontese  Government  sent  an  ultimatum 
to  Cardinal  Antonelli,  Papal  Secretary  of  State, 
calling  for  the  immediate  disarmament  of  the 
mercenary  forces  levied  by  the  Pope,  alleging 
that  their  existence   constituted  a  continual 


312  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

menace  to  the  peace  of  Italy.  The  Papal  Ad- 
ministration was  furthermore  unequivocally  in- 
formed that,  unless  its  forces  were  disbanded 
at  once,  the  Sardinian  Government  would  con- 
sider itself  justified  in  ''preventing  any  at- 
tempt which  might  be  made  to  repress  the 
manifestations  of  National  feeling  in  TJmbria 
and  the  Marches."  But  twenty-four  hours 
were  allowed  the  Papal  authorities  to  extricate 
themselves  from  this  awkward  predicament. 
In  his  Circular,  addressed  to  the  European 
Courts,  Cavour  describes  this  action  as  ''neces- 
sitated by  the  interests  of  the  new  Italian 
Kingdom,  and  the  welfare  of  the  Peninsula  ; " 
and  recalls  the  fact  that  some  years  before,  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  had  himself  been  the  re- 
vered advocate  of  this  great  National  move- 
ment, which  had  now  passed  beyond  the  con- 
trol of  Princes  and  States  alike. 

Writing  to  Baron  Stockmar  from  Balmoral 
on  September  fourteenth,  the  Prince  Consort 
says  :  "  Here  joy  at  the  fall  of  the  Neapolitan 
dynasty  is  universal.  Sardinia  gives  out  that 
she  will  be  compelled  to  incorporate  the  King- 
dom, and  to  send  troops  into  the  Koman  States, 
in  order  to  prevent  anarchy,  as  Garibaldi  is  sur- 
rounded by  Mazzinians." 

The  cry  raised  by  Cavour  that  Garibaldi 
would  certainly,    if  left  to  his  own  devices. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  313 

march  upon  Rome,  and  allow  Mazzini  to  pro- 
claim the  Republic  there,  had  its  weight  with 
the  European  Courts  for  whose  benefit  it  was 
raised.  The  Sardinian  Cabinet  contended, 
with  no  small  show  of  reason,  that  foreign  in- 
tervention, from  whatever  quarter  it  might 
come,  must  inevitably  mean  a  renewal  of  the 
chaotic  struggles  of  preceding  years ;  and 
argued  that  in  this  connection  Piedmont,  and 
the  Piedmontese  army,  constituted  the  only 
safeguard  for  the  peace  of  Europe.  Reference 
has  already  been  made  to  the  mission  of  Farini 
and  Cialdini  to  Chambery,  where  they  ascer- 
tained the  views  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French 
concerning  the  proposed  official  intervention  of 
Sardinia  in  the  Neapolitan  drama.  That  the 
personal  policy  of  Napoleon  III.  on  this  occa- 
sion was  not  in  accord  with  that  of  his  official 
entourage  has  been  frequently  advanced. 
France  professed  herself  interested  in  the  for- 
mation and  maintenance  of  three  independent 
States  in  the  Peninsula  :  the  Kingdom  of  Italy, 
the  Papal  States,  and  the  Kingdom  of  Naples. 
In  view  of  the  uncertain  political  conditions 
prevailing  in  the  Peninsula,  and  in  deference 
to  the  solicitude  expressed  by  the  powerful 
Catholic  party,  the  French  Government  main- 
tained a  garrison  in  Rome,  apparently  for  the 
defence  of  the  Pope.     The  nomination  of  Oen- 


314  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

eral  Lamoriciere  to  the  command  of  the  Papal 
forces  had  been  considered  by  many,  who  fore- 
saw the  complications  likely  to  arise  out  of  the 
Neapolitan  controversy,  as  a  grave  error ;  the 
more  especially  as  the  General's  authority  was 
not  restricted  to  the  immediate  precincts  of  the 
Eternal  City,  but  ranged  over  the  provinces 
which  were  in  a  state  of  ferment,  and  already 
showing  irrefutable  symptoms  of  sympathy 
with  the  Unitarians. 

As  was  expected,  the  advance  of  the  Sar- 
dinian troops  into  Papal  territory,  in  accord- 
ance with  Cavour's  ultimatum,  was  defiantly 
opposed  by  Lamoriciere.  The  Sardinian  vic- 
tory of  Castelfidardo,  and  the  total  defeat  of 
Lamoriciere,  and  the  Papal  forces  under  his 
command  at  Ancona,  after  a  brave  but  in- 
effectual resistance,  placed  the  French  in  an 
anomalous  position.  Count  Persigny,  Napo- 
leon's Ambassador  in  England,  and  one  of  his 
earliest  and  most  devoted  followers,  condemns 
this  policy  with  the  severest  strictures.  In  his 
opinion  the  consequences  of  Castelfidardo  were 
ruinous  to  French  prestige.  By  making  pos- 
sible the  encounter,  and  allowing  the  subse- 
quent spoliation  of  the  Holy  See,  and  the  an- 
nexation of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples  to  that 
of  Italy,  the  Emperor  plunged  his  policy  into 
inextricable  complications  and  contradictions. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  316 

**  In  the  eyes  of  all  Europe,"  says  Persigny, 
''his  Government  was  discredited.  He  had 
desired  to  prevent  the  union  of  Italy,  and 
Italian  Unity  was  accomplished  in  spite  of  him. 
He  pretended  to  protect  the  Holy  See,  and  the 
Pope  lost  his  richest  provinces." 

It  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  that  Catholic 
France,  and  especially  the  Legitimist  oppo- 
nents of  the  Empire,  cried  out  in  horror  at  a 
policy  which  amounted  in  their  eyes  to  sacri- 
lege. The  application  of  some  balm  to  soothe 
the  susceptibilities  of  the  outraged  victims  of 
the  Emperor's  duplicity  became  imperative. 
A  great  cloud  of  diplomatic  dust  was  conse- 
quently kicked  up  between  the  Foreign  Offices 
of  Paris  and  Turin,  and  in  sign  of  protest; 
Count  Talleyrand,  French  Minister  to  the  Sar- 
dinian Court,  was  instructed  to  demand  his 
passports  (September  18th).  Within  a  few 
weeks  the  Russian  and  Spanish  Envoys  re- 
ceived similar  instructions,  and  left  their 
posts,  protesting  loudly  against  this  official 
violation  of  international  obligations. 

Notwithstanding  this  diplomatic  bluster, 
when,  a  couple  of  weeks  later,  Victor  Em- 
manuel decided  to  assist  in  person  at  the  pas- 
sage of  his  troops  into  Neapolitan  territory, 
and  so  advised  the  French  Emperor  by  tele- 
gram, stating  that  he  was  "  leaving  for  Naples 


316  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

in  order  to  prevent  the  proclamation  of  the 
Republic,"  he  received  the  unofficial  congratu- 
lations of  Napoleon  III.  on  the  adoption  of 
this  "  energetic  resolution." 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

Francis  at  Oaeta.— He  forms  a  Ministry.— Instructions  to  local 
officials.— Address  to  the  Army.— The  battles  of  the  Vol- 
tumo.  —  Garibaldi's  submission.  —  Political  excesses  in 
Naples. — Piedmontese  troops  enter  Neapolitan  territory. — 
Cavour's  audacious  counsels.— His  belief  in  non-intervention 
of  France  and  England.— Austrian  hostility.- Victor  Em- 
manuel at  Ancona. — His  proclamation  to  Southern  popula- 
tions.—The  "  Times  "  on  situation. — Appointment  of  Pro- 
Dictator  at  Naples.— The  Plebiscite.— Meeting  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  and  Qaribaldi.— Fall  of  Capua.— Victor  Emman- 
uel in  Naples. — Departure  of  Qaribaldi. — Honors  and  re- 
wards offered  him.— Alexander  Dumas  in  Naples. — His 
opinion  of  Qaribaldi. 

After  consultation  with  the  members  of  his 
family,  and  the  military  authorities  assembled 
at  Gaeta,  Francis  modified  his  previous  inten- 
tions of  passively  awaiting  in  that  strong- 
hold the  developments  of  Diplomacy,  and  de- 
cided, pending  the  arrival  of  reinforcements 
from  Naples  and  the  South,  to  concentrate  the 
forces  at  his  disposal  at  Capua,  and  on  the  line 
of  the  Volturno  and  Garigliano,  in  anticipation 
of  circumstances  which  would  permit  of  an 
attempt  being  made  for  the  reconquest  of  the 
capital. 

817 


318  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

His  first  act  was  the  constitution  of  a  Minis- 
try, which  included  not  only  a  Minister  of 
War,  one  of  Marine,  and  a  Secretary  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  but  provided  for  the  portfolios  of 
Finance,  Public  Works,  Public  Instruction, 
Grace  and  Justice,  Interior,  the  inevitable 
Police,  and  Ecclesiastical  Affairs.  At  the 
same  time  the  Prefects  and  Magistrates  through- 
out the  realm  were  warned  that  the  state  of 
siege  was  proclaimed,  and  instructed  to  obey 
the  Military  commanders  of  their  districts. 

Although  we  may  smile  at  what  appears 
pure  **  naivete  "  on  the  part  of  the  dethroned 
Monarch,  the  motives  for  the  adoption  of  this 
course  were  not  devoid  of  ingenuity.  Francis 
and  his  advisers  were  well  aware  that  none  of 
the  former  Crown  officials  thus  addressed  would 
pay  the  slightest  heed  to  the  instructions  of  a 
Government  no  longer  in  a  position  to  enforce 
its  mandates ;  nevertheless,  the  proclamation 
was  calculated  to  mislead  the  European  Powers, 
and  make  it  appear  that  the  Government  of 
the  King  still  wielded  authority  thronghout 
the  provinces,  in  spite  of  the  successful  raid 
of  the  filibusters ;  and  in  this  wise  partially 
retrieve,  in  the  eyes  of  foreign  diplomacy,  the 
error  committed  in  abandoning  the  capital. 
It  is  easy  to  discern  the  hand  of  the  Queen 
Mother  and  "  Camarilla*'  in  this,  and  many 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  319 

subsequent  schemes,  the  futility  of  which  were 
manifest.  Left  to  his  own  devices,  Francis 
would  certainly  have  abandoned  a  struggle,  the 
hopelessness  of  which  he  appreciated,  and  have 
retired  to  Kome,  or  Bavaria,  in  obedience  to 
the  dictates  of  the  fatalism  which  underlay  his 
nature.  Guided  and  influenced  by  stronger 
minds  into  the  adoption  of  a  course  of  obstinate 
resistance  in  the  face  of  overwhelming  odds,  he 
and  his  faithful  consort  displayed  a  heroism 
on  the  ramparts  of  the  beleaguered  citadel,  and 
an  abnegation  during  the  privations  and  sick- 
ness attending  the  siege,  which  compelled  the 
unstinted  admiration  of  his  most  bitter  oppo- 
nents. 

General  Ritucci  was  intrusted  with  the 
supreme  command  of  the  remnant  of  the  army 
which  occupied  Capua  and  the  surrounding 
districts,  and  to  which  the  King  addressed 
from  Gaeta  a  desperate  appeal  : 

*' Soldiers:"  (he  cried)  *'It  is  time  that 
the  voice  of  your  King  should  be  heard  in  your 
ranks :  the  voice  of  the  King  who  grew  up 
with  yon  ;  who  has  lavished  all  his  care  upon 
you  ;  and  who  comes  now  to  share  your  lot. 
Those  who,  by  allowing  themselves  to  be  de- 
ceived and  seduced,  have  plunged  the  King- 
dom in  mourning  are  no  longer  amongst  us. 


320  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Nevertheless,  I  appeal  to  your  honor  and  your 
fidelity,  in  order  that  by  glorious  deeds  we  may 
efface  the  disgrace  of  cowardice  and  treachery. 
We  are  still  sufficiently  numerous  to  annihilate 
an  enemy  which  employs  the  weapons  of  de- 
ceit and  corruption.  Up  to  the  present  I  have 
desired  to  spare  many  towns,  but  now  that  we 
are  relegated  to  the  banks  of  the  Volturno  and 
Oarigliano,  shall  we  allow  ourselves  to  still 
further  humiliate  our  fame  as  soldiers  ?  Will 
you  permit  your  Sovereign  to  abandon  the 
Throne,  and  leave  you  to  eternal  infamy  ? 
No  !  At  this  supreme  moment  let  us  rally 
round  the  flag  to  defend  our  rights,  our  honor, 
and  the  fair  fame  of  Neapolitans ;  already 
sufficiently  discredited." 

With  the  addition  of  the  contingent  from 
Naples,  and  the  arrival  of  many  detachments 
which  had  found  themselves  isolated  and 
scattered  throughout  the  provinces,  the  mili- 
tary gathering  on  the  banks  of  the  Volturno 
mustered  some  forty  thousand  strong.  These 
forces  were  generally  well  equipped,  amply 
provided  with  artillery  and  munitions  of  war, 
and  were,  moreover,  strongly  intrenched  and 
flanked,  while  their  rear  was  protected  by  the 
practically  impregnable  fortress  of  Gaeta. 
Unfortunately  for  the  Royal  cause,  the  treach- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  321 

ery  and  deceit  by  which  Francis  was  sur- 
rounded continued  to  be  manifest  even  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy.  Desertions  of  Generals, 
officers  and  men  became  daily  occurrences  ; 
while  the  prestige  of  the  Crown  was  still  further 
weakened  by  the  ill-advised  absence  of  Francis 
himself  from  the  front  on  the  eve  of  the  first 
encounter  with  the  enemy. 

Before  returning  to  Gaeta,  Francis,  in  an 
order  of  the  day,  dated  September  twelfth, 
confided  the  ramparts  of  Capua  to  the  "  valor, 
fidelity  and  honor  "  of  his  soldiers,  whom  he 
again  exhorts  to  banish  all  ideas  of  treachery. 
The  King's  half-brothers,  the  Counts  of  Trani 
and  Caserta,  remained  with  the  troops,  and 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Caiazzo,  when  the 
Royalists  successfully  engaged  the  Garibaldians 
under  General  Tiirr.  Had  the  advantages  then 
gained  been  promptly  followed  up,  the  con- 
sequences woulH  undoubtedly  have  been 
serious  for  the  defeated  Garibaldians.  This 
reverse,  the  first  suffered  by  the  invaders,  and 
which  caused  a  feeling  of  uneasiness  as  to  the 
possibility  of  a  movement  upon  the  capital, 
decided  Garibaldi,  who  had  returned  in  all 
haste  from  a  temporary  absence  in  Palermo, 
whither  he  had  gone  to  reconcile  the  conflict- 
ing interests  prevailing  there,  to  concentrate 
his  troops,  scattered  along  the  coast  from  the 


322  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

Gulf  of  Policastro  to  that  of  Salerno  ;  and  to 
limit  operations  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Vol- 
tnrno,  and  the  defence  of  the  approaches  to  the 
capital. 

The  battles  of  the  Voltnrno,  which  took  place 
a  few  days  later  (October  first  and  second),  in 
which  the  Bourbon  troops  gave  evidence  of 
unqualified  pluck  and  determination,  being 
finally  repulsed,  thanks  to  the  timely  arrival 
of  the  Piedmontese  regulars  (Bersaglieri)  de- 
spatched by  Villamarina,  at  the  earnest  request 
of  Garibaldi,  convinced  the  latter  that  the  task 
of  dislodging  the  Royalists  from  their  strong- 
holds was  beyond  the  unaided  strength  of  his 
red-sliirted  volunteers.  The  proud  independ- 
ence of  the  victorious  Dictator  did  not  prevent 
his  realizing  the  perils  of  his  position,  and  the 
dangers  which  might  result  therefrom  to  the 
cause  of  Unity.  Laying  aside  his  former  bom- 
bastic pretensions,  he  addressed  Victor  Emman- 
uel, on  October  fourth,  in  simple  and  loyal 
terms.  Taking  advantage  of  the  opportunity 
offered  by  the  recent  victories  of  Cialdini  over 
the  Papal  forces,  he  congratulated  the  King  on 
these  feats  of  arms,  and  modestly  referred  to 
his  own  successes  on  the  Volturno,  adding  sig- 
nificantly :  "  I  know  that  Your  Majesty  is 
about  to  send  four  thousand  men  to  Naples, 
and  it  will  be  wise.  Your  Majesty  will  acknowl- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  323 

edge  that  I  am  heartily  his  friend,  and  that  I 
merit  confidence.  It  is  much  better  to  wel- 
come all  honest  Italians,  no  matter  what  parties 
they  may  have  belonged  to  in  the  past,  rather 
than  favor  the  formation  of  factions,  which 
might  become  dangerous  in  the  future.  Being 
at  Ancona,  Your  Majesty  ought  to  make  an 
excursion  to  Naples,  either  by  sea  or  by  laud. 
If  by  land,  which  would  be  preferable.  Your 
Majesty  should  be  accompanied  by  at  least  one 
division.  Advised  in  time,  I  would  effect  a 
junction  with  my  right,  and  would  come  in  per- 
son to  present  my  homages,  and  receive  orders 
for  subsequent  operations." 

The  tone  of  this  letter  justifies  the  boast  of 
the  Marquis  de  Villamarina  in  his  despatch  to 
Cavour  :  *'  The  political  battle  is  won.  I  know 
that  I  acted  contrary  to  my  instructions  in  con- 
ceding two  battalions  of  Bersaglieri  in  aid  of 
the  Garibaldians,  but  I  also  know  that  when 
the  Dictator  had  news  that  our  soldiers  had  ar- 
rived, he  exclaimed  with  joy:  'This  time  I 
clearly  see  that  Piedmont  is  sincere,  and  that 
the  Piedmontese  are  our  real  brothers.'" 

The  news  from  Naples  had  recently  been 
such  as  to  cause  Cavour  the  keenest  anxiety. 
Excesses,  political  and  military,  marked  the 
reign  of  the  red-shirted  followers  of  Garibaldi, 
or  rather  that  of  the  adventurers  and  hangers- 


824  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

on,  warriors  in  name  only,  who  terrorized  the 
town  with  their  swaggering  and  disorderly  con- 
duct. Mazzini,  Alberto  Mario,  Cataneo,  Ber- 
tani,  and  others  ;  Republicans,  Federalists, 
conditional  Annexationists,  and  the  advocates 
of  an  indefinite  Dictatorship,  each  in  turn  made 
assault  on  the  loyalty  of  the  popular  hero,  and 
essayed  to  undermine  his  allegiance  to  his  Sov- 
ereign, and  envenom  his  personal  quarrel  with 
the  wily  diplomatist  and  statesman  at  the  head 
of  the  Government  in  Turin,  on  whose  dismis- 
sal from  office  he  was  urged  to  insist. 

It  was  to  counteract  this  pernicious  influence, 
and  check  the  exorbitant  pretensions,  which 
jeopardized  the  fair  fabric  of  unity  to  as  great 
an  extent  as  the  diplomatic  opposition  of 
Europe,  as  well  as  to  officially  place  the  "  Re 
Galantuomo  "  at  the  head  of  the  movement  un- 
dertaken in  his  name,  that  Cavour  now  coun- 
selled Victor  Emmanuel  to  complement  one 
audacity  with  another  by  joining  his  forces  at 
Ancona,  and  marching  on  Naples.  The  step 
was  a  bold  one,  and  although  undoubtedly  ne- 
cessitated by  the  situation  at  Naples,  might 
readily  have  complicated  an  already  sufficiently 
perilous  predicament.  It  is  now  known  that 
Bertani  telegraphed  the  chief  of  a  small  force 
stationed  near  the  Papal  frontier,  to  "oppose 
the  entry  of  the  Piedmontese  troops  coming  from 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  326 

the  border  ; "  *  and  that  the  patriotic  action  of 
the  eommander  of  the  National  Guard  of  the 
district.  Count  Acquaviva,  alone  prevented  a 
collision,  the  consequences  of  which  must  have 
been  almost  irreparable. 

Castelfidardo  had  deeply  shocked  European 
Diplomacy,  but  the  intelligence  that  Victor 
Emmanuel  was  about  to  march  his  forces  upon 
Naples,  and  co-operate  with  thoseof  the  success- 
ful filibuster,  fairly  staggered  the  Chanceries 
of  the  Powers. 

When  counselling  his  Sovereign  to  partially 
throw  off  the  mask  and  unite,  or,  if  necessary, 
oppose,  his  forces  to  the  unoflBcial  legions  oper- 
ating in  the  South,  Cavour  played  a  dangerous 
card.  The  notification  to  the  various  Courts 
that  the  Piedmontese  went  to  restore  order  in 
the  Neapolitan  Realm,  and  to  avert  the  impend- 
ing proclamation  of  a  Republic,  could  hardly 
be  expected  to  satisfy  an  already  overtaxed 
credulity.  The  ground  had,  however,  been 
carefully  prepared,  and  no  essential  neglected 
which  might  contribute  to  assuage,  or  check- 
mate, the  jealousies,  national  and  international, 
which  such  action  must  arouse.  In  England 
public  opinion  was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of 
Garibaldi's  enterprise.  While  Her  Majesty's 
responsible  Ministers  might  officially  frown 
*  Nisoo.     "  FVancesco  II." 


326  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

ominously  at  so  flagrant  a  violation  of  the 
sacred  rights  of  nations,  they  were  individually 
in  sympathy  with  the  Italian  cause,  and  conse- 
quently disinclined  to  risk  popularity  by  active 
intervention  in  a  question  offering  no  prospect 
of  material  advantages.  Of  the  personal  good- 
will of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  there  had 
been  ample  and  tangible  demonstration,  and  at 
this  time  the  will  of  Napoleon  III.  still  consti- 
tuted the  law  of  France,  although  his  opinions 
might  not  be  indorsed  by  the  members  of  his 
Government,  or  shared  by  a  large  portion  of 
his  subjects.  With  the  latter  the  assurances 
that  the  Eternal  City  should  be  respected  and 
protected  from  the  proposed  aggression  of  the 
Garibaldians,  and  the  Pope  left  in  undisturbed 
possession  of  the  Patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  car- 
ried weight,  especially  with  the  Catholic  Legit- 
imist element,  the  long-standing  umbrage  of 
which  the  Emperor  expected  still  further  to 
propitiate  by  the  Syrian  expedition  undertaken, 
mominally  at  least,  for  the  purpose  of  avenging 
the  massacres  in  the  Lebanon.  Moreover, 
France  and  England  were  at  this  moment 
>united  for  the  protection  of  mutual  interests  in 
dihe  Far  East,  and  consequently  the  less  dis- 
posed to  quibble  over  Italian  politics.  Aus- 
tria, undisguisedly  and  menacingly  hostile, 
jnight  have  to  be  reckoned  with  at  any  moment ; 


TBS  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  327 

in  which  case  Russia  and  '^Prussia  would  prob- 
ably lend  her  moral  support,  if  no  more. 

To  hia  life-long  friend,  the  Comtesse  de 
Circourt,  Cavour  admitted  in  his  letter  of 
September  twenty-third,  1860,  that :  "  Italy 
finds  herself  in  a  very  critical  position.  What 
with  Diplomacy  on  the  one  side,  and  Garibaldi 
on  the  other,  it  is  not  by  any  means  pleasant. 
I  hope  nevertheless  that  we  shall  succeed  in 
disengaging  ourselves  from  our  embarrass- 
ments, and  in  establishing  our  country  on  the 
solid  foundations  of  order  and  liberty,  in  spite 
of  the  defiance  of  the  Absolutists,  and  the 
follies  of  the  Republicans.*' 

A  month  later  he  informs  the  same  corre- 
spondent that  "we  shall  possibly  soon  be 
called  upon  to  undergo  a  severe  trial.  Austria 
it  seems  proposes  taking  advantage  of  the  ab- 
sence of  the  King,  and  of  our  best  troops,  to 
attack  us.  We  are  preparing  for  a  desperate 
resistance.  Although  Cialdini  and  Fanti  are 
at  Naples,  we  have  with  us  La  Marmora  and 
Sonnaz,  who  don't  allow  themselves  to  be  in- 
timidated by  Benedeck  and  the  Archduke 
Albert.  We  are  prepared  to  risk  our  all. 
The  country  is  as  calm  as  if  the  outlook  were 
cloudless.  While  realizing  the  danger  which 
menaces  them  there  is  no  panic,  for  all  appre- 
ciate that  the  cause  at  stake  is  great  enough  to 


328  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

warrant  the  most  tremendons  sacrifices  far  its 
attainment/' 

Victor  Emmanuel,  whose  ardor  had  more 
freqnently  to  be  restrained  than  encouraged  by 
his  Minister,  eagerly  seized  the  opportunity  for 
throwing  off  the  wearisome  yoke  imposed  by 
Diplomacy,  and  embarking  on  the  adventurous 
activity  his  soul  craved. 

On  his  arrival  at  Ancona,  the  King  received 
deputations  from  the  Abbruzzi  and  Naples, 
presenting  petitions,  covered  by  many  thou- 
sands of  prominent  names,  clamoring  for  im- 
mediate annexation,  and  urging  that  he  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  the  capital.  Although  nothing 
loath  to  comply  with  such  request,  diplomatic 
etiquette,  and  the  amenities  of  international 
intercourse,  forbade  that  such  a  step  should  be 
taken  while  the  accredited  representative  of 
the  King  of  Naples  remained  in  official  resi- 
dence at  Turin.  Cavour  therefore  informed 
Baron  Winspeare  in  a  curtly  worded  despatch, 
dated  October  sixth,  that  civil  war,  and  the 
absence  of  a  regular  Government  constituting 
a  grave  peril,  Naples  had  had  recourse  to  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel  to  afford  the  needed  protection. 
**  It  is  with  the  object  of  fulfilling  this  high 
mission,"  he  continues,  "that  His  Majesty 
Victor  Emmanuel  sends  his  soldiers  to  Naples; 
they    win   safeguard    Italy   and    Europe    by 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES. 


crushing  anarchy  and  disorder,  and  preventing 
bloodshed/' 

The  Neapolitan  Envoy  replied  with  a  vigor- 
ous protest ;  but  realizing  the  futility  of  fur- 
ther effort,  immediately  left  Turin. 

Before  crossing  the  river  Tronto,  vtrhich  di- 
vided the  Papal  and  Neapolitan  States,  Victor 
Emmanuel  addressed  a  proclamation  to  the 
populations  of  the  Two  Sicilies.  In  this  docu- 
ment, intended  rather  as  a  justification  of  his 
action  before  the  European  Courts  than  as  an 
explanation  of  his  presence  amongst  the  ob- 
viously delighted  subjects  of  the  Bourbon  King, 
the  Sardinian  Monarch  dwells  upon  the  politi- 
cal and  social  conditions  which  render  his  per- 
sonal intervention  imperative.  The  use  of  his 
name  in  the  recent  political  changes  effscted 
throughout  the  Kingdom  had  given  rise  to  se- 
rious misinterpretations.  While  the  glorious 
deeds  and  popularity  of  Garibaldi  were  duly 
eulogized  in  the  King's  proclamation,  and  his 
personal  probity  compared  in  its  disinterested 
purity  to  that  of  ancient  times,  the  mistrust  of 
those  surrounding  the  hero  was  clearly  indi- 
cated in  a  reference  to  the  universal  "  dread 
that  a  factional  attempt  would  be  made  to  sac- 
rifice the  dawning  National  triumph  to  the 
chimera  of  an  ambitious  fanaticism."  Again, 
he  asserted  that  while  holding  himself  respon- 


330  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

sible  before  Europe  for  the  recent  eventa  un- 
dertaken in  his  name,  in  the  face  of  the  un- 
doubted peril  to  the  National  cause,  occasioned 
by  the  presence  of  hordes  of  adventurers  of 
every  nationality  in  the  Papal  States,  and 
which  constituted  a  veritable  foreign  interven- 
tion of  the  most  dangerous  type,  he  had  pro- 
claimed '*  Italy  for  the  Italians,"  and  would 
never  permit  that  the  Peninsula  become  a  hot- 
bed for  the  intrigues  of  cosmopolitan  sects 
tending  towards  the  universal  spread  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Demagogue. 

The  Conservative-Liberal  elements  through- 
out Europe,  although  perhaps  shocked  at  the 
apparent  duplicity  of  Piedmontese  diplomacy, 
were,  nevertheless,  with  the  spectre  of  Revolu- 
tion, or  Anarchy,  dangling  before  their  eyes, 
inclined  to  accept  this  vindication  of  a  prin- 
ciple, dangerous  in  its  essence,  and  to  agree  in 
substance  with  the  opinion  expressed  in  the 
''  Times  "  of  October  nineteenth.  In  this  ar- 
ticle the  writer  avers  that  :  **  In  our  eyes  the 
only  defence  for  the  conduct  of  the  King  (of 
Sardinia)  lies  in  those  natural  laws  which  lie 
unwritten  in  every  code  and  unnamed  in  every 
form  of  Government,  but  which  intolerable 
oppression  calls  forth  from  latent  existence 
into  active  force.  It  is  the  unbearable  tyranny 
of  the  two  Sovereigns  of  Southern  Italy,  it  is 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  331 

the  massacres  of  Perugia,  the  prisons  of 
Palermo,  and  the  dungeons  of  St.  Elmo,  which 
have  given  to  the  people  of  Southern  Italy  the 
right  to  call  for  a  deliverer,  and  which  have 
given  to  Victor  Emmanuel  the  same  excuse  for 
assuming  the  Crown  of  Naples  which  William 
of  Orange  had  for  accepting  that  o^ England. 
Upon  this  principle  and  upon  no  other,  Victor 
Emmanuel  can  vindicate  his  own  presence  in 
Southern  Italy,  and  upon  this  title  he  will  be 
fully  justified  in  putting  an  end  to  the  war  by 
one  decisive  movement." 

If  the  intrigues  at  Naples  had  resulted  in  the 
resignation  of  the  Ministry  originally  formed 
by  Liberie  Romano,  these  very  excesses  had 
benefited  the  National  Cause  by  necessitating 
the  appointment  of  George  Pallavicino  as  Pro- 
Dictator.  Pallavicino,  although  a  warm  and 
faithful  friend  of  Garibaldi,  was  equally  trusted 
by  the  adherents  to  Cavour's  policy,  while  his 
devotion  to  the  person  of  his  Sovereign,  and 
his  identification  with  the  National  Cause,  was 
above  suspicion.  To  his  energetic  action,  and 
firm  yet  tactful  perseverance  in  the  face  of  per- 
tinacious, and  often  malignant,  opposition, 
was  due  the  eventual  discomfiture  of  the  dan- 
gerous faction  whose  policy  aimed  at  an  indefi- 
nite prolongation  of  the  Dictatorship,  even 
should  such  a  course  necessitate  open  hostility 


332  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

with  Piedmont.  His  appeal  to  Mazzini  to 
make  a  further  sacrifice  of  his  personal  convic- 
tions by  leaving  Naples,  where  his  presence  and 
influence  were  a  cause  of  serious  embarrass- 
ment to  the  Government,  was,  it  is  true,  in- 
effectual ;  nevertheless  the  firmness  of  the 
stand  he  made  in  dealing  with  Cataneo,  Ber- 
tani,  Crispi,  Mario,  and  others,  whose  policy 
was  in  open  contradiction  to  the  clearly  ex- 
pressed desire  of  the  populations  of  the  conti- 
nental provinces  and  Sicily,  prevailed  ;  the  spe- 
cious reasoning  of  his  adherents  being  made 
apparent  to  Garibaldi  himself. 

The  formula  of  the  Plebiscite  of  October 
twenty-first  was  simply  as  follows  :  "  The  peo- 
ple desire  Italy  one  and  indivisible  with  Victor 
Emmanuel,  Constitutional  King,  and  his  legit- 
imate descendants."  The  yeas,  polled  in  the 
metropolis  and  continental  provinces  amounted 
to  1,302,064,  against  10,312  nays  :  in  Sicily, 
432,053  voted  in  favor  of  the  island  being  poli- 
tically merged  with  the  common  Fatherland, 
while  667  held  a  contrary  opinion. 

The  same  formula  when  offered  to  the  popu- 
lations of  the  Marches  and  Umbria,  on  Novem- 
ber fourth  and  fifth,  resulted  in  134,847  yeas 
as  against  1,592  nays. 

Victor  Emmanuel  did  not  await  the  result  of 
the  Plebiscite,  which   indeed  was    only    pre- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  333 

clutned  officially  on  November  fifth,  bnt  after 
defeating  the  Papal  garrisons  of  Perugia,  Spo- 
leto,  and  S.  Leo,  crossed  the  Tronto,  amidst 
the  acclamations  of  the  Abbrazzesi,  whose  depa- 
ntations  welcomed  his  troops  as  they  marched 
through  their  province.  The  news  that  Gari- 
baldi had  yielded,  and  decreed  the  Plebiscite, 
reached  the  King  at  Grottamare.  The  neces- 
sity for  immediate  action  thus  removed,  and 
being  disinclined  to  enter  Naples  before  the 
result  of  the  solemn  manifestation  of  the  will 
of  the  people  had  been  promulgated,  Victor 
Emmanuel  now  continued  his  journey  by  easy 
stages. 

Garibaldi,  who  had  himself  cast  his  vote  in 
favor  of  annexation,  now  marched  forward  to 
meet  his  King.  On  the  morning  of  the  twen  y- 
sixth,  at  the  little  village  of  Caianello,  the  com- 
manders came  face  to  face.  Victor  Emmanuel, 
on  discerning  the  red-shirted  warrior  by  the  aid 
of  his  field-glasses,  gave  spur  to  his  horse: 
Garibaldi  did  the  same.  Followed  by  their 
escorts,  the  King  and  the  Dictator  drew  rein 
within  a  few  feet  of  each  other.  To  the  cry  of 
"  Long  live  Victor  Emmanuel  *'  raised  by  those 
present.  Garibaldi,  lifting  his  sombrero,  added 
significantly:  "King  of  Italy."  "Thank 
you,**  was  the  simple  reply,  as  Victor  Emman- 
uel flti^ched  forth  his  hand  and  grasped  the 


334  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

rough  palm  of  the  soldier  of  fortune.  Side  by 
side,  still  hand  in  hand,  the  two  continued  their 
way,  earnestly  discussing  the  military  operations 
both  foresaw  as  inevitable. 

Cordial  and  hearty  as  the  meeting  was,  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel  clearly  evinced  his  determina- 
tion to  brook  no  interference  with  his  sovereign 
prerogatives,  or  any  attempt  to  overshadow  the 
prestige  of  his  troops.  To  the  General's  re- 
quest that  he  be  accorded  the  honor  of  leading 
in  the  advance  against  the  Royalists  intrenched 
on  the  Garigliano,  the  King  gently  but  firmly 
objected  :  *'  Yon  have  been  fighting  for  a  long 
while  past ;  it  is  now  my  turn.  Your  troops  are 
exhausted,  mine  are  fresh.  Your  place  is  now 
with  the  reserves.*' 

The  meaning  implied  by  these  words  was  not 
lost  upon  the  Dictator,  who  despondently  re- 
marked to  Signora  Mario  :  **  They  have  placed 
us  at  the  tail ; "  and  who,  when  two  days  later 
General  della  Rocca  with  the  Fifth  Army  Corps 
began  the  regular  siege  of  Capua,  took  leave  of 
his  troops  and  retired  to  Naples.  From  thence 
he  despatched  a  letter,  impregnated  with  noble 
sentiment,  to  the  King,  resigning  into  his  hands 
the  powers,  political  and  military,  he  had  tem- 
porarily usurped. 

Capua  capitulated  on  November  second.  On 
the  following  morning  the  seven  thousand  men 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  335 

which  constituted  the  garrison  marched  out, 
stacked  arms,  the  oflficers  being  allowed  to  re- 
tain their  swords,  and  as  prisoners  of  war  were 
eventually  transported  to  Genoa. 

With  the  fall  of  Capua  the  sovereignty  of 
Francis  was  restricted  to  the  fortress  of  Gaeta 
and  dependent  village  of  Mola,  the  citadel  of 
Messina,  and  the  insignificant  but  practically 
impregnable  little  mountain  stronghold  of  Civi- 
tella  del  Tronto,  on  the  Papal  frontier,  which, 
after  a  memorable  siege  of  seven  months,  only 
capitulated  at  the  express  command  of  the  de- 
throned King  from  his  exile  in  Bome. 

Leaving  Cialdini  in  command  on  the  Garig- 
liano  Victor  Emmanuel  hastened  to  Naples. 
On  the  morning  of  the  seventh,  just  two 
months  after  the  flight  of  Francis,  the  King  of 
United  Italy  entered  the  capital,  amidst  demon- 
strations of  enthusiasm  described  in  the  chroni- 
cles of  the  period  as  bordering  on  delirium.  In 
the  carriage  at  his  side  sat  Garibaldi,  clad  in 
his  red  shirt  and  wide  sombrero  ;  while  the  Pro- 
Dictator  Pallavicino  and  Andrea  Colonna,  Syn- 
dic of  Naples,  occupied  the  opposite  seat. 
Next  day  Victor  Emmanuel,  surrounded  by  all 
the  pomp  and  military  splendor  of  his  Court, 
after  having  received  the  official  notification  of 
the  result  of  the  Plebiscite  of  October  twenty- 
first,  gave  solemn  audience  to  Garibaldi  and 


336  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

the  members  of  the  Government  of  the  Dic- 
tator. 

This  was  the  last  official  function  in  which 
the  ex-Dictator  was  to  take  part.  Sore  and 
chagrined  at  what  he  considered  the  ingratitude 
of  his  Sovereign,  he  left  Naples  next  day  on 
the  **  Washington,"  which  was  under  orders  to 
bear  him  to  his  island  home  at  Caprera.  The 
great  leader  who  had  won  for  his  King  the  fair- 
est provinces  of  Italy,  and  brought  ten  million 
subjects  beneath  his  sceptre,  carried  with  him 
as  the  fruits  of  his  victories  a  bag  of  seeds  for 
his  garden,  some  vegetables  and  salted  fish,  and 
about  three  hundred  dollars  in  a  purse  handed 
him  by  a  friend  as  he  embarked,  for  he  had 
forgotten  to  provide  himself  with  money. 

The  impression  caused  in  Naples  by  this  de- 
parture, which  closely  resembled  banishment, 
was  most  painful.  Yet,  as  Cavour  wrote  to  the 
Marquis  d*Azeglio,  "  We  wished  at  all  costs  to 
avoid  appearing  ungrateful.  ..."  The  King 
and  Parini  made  the  most  magnificent  offers  to 
Garibaldi.  Not  only  was  he  appointed  to  the 
rank  of  Field  Marshal ;  ample  provision  made 
for  his  eldest  son  ;  the  title  of  aide-de-camp  to 
the  King  bestowed  upon  his  second  son  ;  and  a 
dowry  provided  for  his  daughter  ;  but  to  this 
was  added  the  grant  of  one  of  the  royal  estates ; 
the  offer  of  a  steamship,  as  well  as  the  highest 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  331 

decoration  in  the  gift  of  the  Sovereign,  the 
Collar  of  the  Annunziata,  conferring  upon  the 
holder  the  privileges  and  title  of  a  cousin  of  the 
King.  Garibaldi  refused  all,  demanding  the 
Lieutenancy  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sici- 
lies for  a  year,  and  free  control  of  the  adminis- 
tration during  that  period.  "  To  have  yielded," 
adds  Cavour,  "  would  have  been  to  submit  for- 
ever to  the  domination,  not  of  Garibaldi,  but  of 
those  surrounding  him."  The  King  replied 
curtly  :  "  It  is  impossible  ! "  and  Garibaldi  left 
for  Caprera. 

In  his  final  audience  with  the  King,  the  Gen- 
eral begged  that  his  companions,  and  officers, 
be  appointed  to  grades  in  the  regular  army  cor- 
responding to  those  they  had  held  in  his  service, 
and  that  his  regiments  be  incorporated  with 
the  troops  of  United  Italy.  Unfortunately  even 
this  unselfish  request,  owing  to  the  complica- 
tions and  professional  jealousies  which  must 
result  therefrom,  met  with  violent  opposition. 

Although  at  heart  a  republican.  Garibaldi 
never  swerved  from  his  allegiance  to  the  Sov- 
ereign in  whose  name  he  undertook  the  expedi- 
tions which  made  his  own  of  world-wide  fame, 
and  the  synouym  for  courage  and  chivalry. 
The  wiles  and  quicksands  of  Diplomacy  were 
to  his  straightforward  but  impulsive  nature  as 
utterly  incomprehensible  as  they  were  distaste- 


338  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

f ul.  In  matters  political,  frankly  ignorant  and 
underestimating  his  own  natural  sagacity,  he 
became  an  easy  prey  to  the  fanatical  adventur- 
ers who  fastened  upon  him  and  dogged  his 
steps,  playing  upon  his  vanity  by  cunningly 
encouraging  his  ambitious  dream  of  the  libera- 
tion of  Rome  and  Venetia,  in  order  to  forward 
their  own  selfish  party,  or  personal  ends. 

Alexander  Dumas,  the  elder,  was  amongst 
the  horde  of  foreigners  who  attached  themselves 
to  the  Dictator.  Eminently  practical,  in  spite 
of  his  eccentricity,  he  managed  during  the  con- 
fusion attending  the  administration  of  the 
capital,  to  secure  a  minor  ofl&cial  sinecure,  and, 
until  turned  out  by  the  Piedmontese,  dispensed 
Neapolitan  gold  with  lavish  hands  in  the  charm- 
ing Ghiatamonte  Palace  which  he  had  caused 
to  be  allotted  to  his  use.  To  his  friend 
d*Ideville,  Secretary  of  the  French  Legation  at 
Turin,  the  great  author  exclaimed  with  vigorous 
enthusiasm  :  "The  man  is  a  hero  ;  a  sublime 
adventurer  ;  a  character  of  romance  !  He  is  a 
fool,  a  simpleton,  if  you  will,  but  an  heroic 
simpleton  ! " 

Smarting  under  a  sense  of  individual  wrong, 
his  heart  ulcerated  by  what  he  considered  the 
hostility  and  ingratitude  of  the  Government, 
Garibaldi  laid  aside  all  personal  rancor,  and  in 
his  farewell  address  to  his  companions  in  so 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  389 

manj  perilons  adventures,  refers  to  Victor 
Emmanuel  as  the  '*  Gift  of  Providence  to  Italy ; 
the  Honest  King  around  whom  every  Italian 
should  rally ;  under  whose  banner  every  rivalry 
should  cease,  and  every  hatred  be  set  aside/' 


CHAPTER  XVni. 

Operations  on  the  Oarigliano.— Failure  of  fleet  to  co-operate.— 
Napoleon's  enigmatical  policy.— Conference  at  Varsovie. 
—Defeat  of  Royalists.— Retreat  on  Gaeta.— The  fortress  of 
(Jaeta.— Its  garrison.— Members  of  Royal  Family  assembled 
there.— Early  days  of  the  siege.— Napoleon  proposes 
armistice.— Francis  writes  Emperor  refusing  to  capitulate. 
— Action  of  Powers.— Cavour's  influence  over  English 
statesmen.— Lord  Palmerston's  assertions. 

General  Cialdini  crossed  the  Garigliano 
on  October  twenty-ninth,  Victor  Emmanuel 
being  present,  and  attacked  the  forty  thousand 
Neapolitans  intrenched  beyond  the  river,  with 
the  pre-arranged  design  of  enclosing  the  enemy 
between  his  own  fire  and  that  of  Admiral 
Persano,  whose  fleet  hovered  off  the  estuary. 
The  encounter  proved  a  severe  and  obstinate 
one,  the  Neapolitan  artillery  causing  terrible 
havoc  in  the  ranks  of  the  Piedmontese,  who 
found  themselves  unaccountably  deprived  of 
the  expected  support  of  their  ships.  Botli 
parties  finally  claimed  the  advantage,  if  ad- 
vantage there  was  :  although  authorities  differ 
on  this  technicality,  all  are  agreed  in  eulogizing 
340 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  341 

the  nndannted  pluck  of  aggressors  aud  defend- 
ers alike. 

The  failure  of  Admiral  Persano  to  co-operate 
with  the  land  forces  was  due  to  the  action  of 
the  French  Admiral^  Le  Barbier  de  Tinan, 
whose  fleet  was  stationed  in  the  waters  of 
Gaeta,  and  who  interposed  his  vessels  between 
those  of  the  Piedmontese  commander  and  the 
shore ;  intimating  at  the  same  time  that  his 
instructions  constrained  him  to  prevent  any 
attack  from  the  sea  on  the  forces  around  Gaeta. 

When  the  reason  for  the  silence  of  Persano's 
guns  transpired  the  indignation  and  fury  of  the 
Italians  knew  no  bounds.  Greatly  incensed, 
and  not  a  little  mystified,  Victor  Emmanuel 
despatched  a  telegram  to  the  Emperor  com- 
plaining of  the  extraordinary  conduct  of  the 
French  Admiral.  Garibaldi  had,  on  October 
sixth,  declared  the  blockade  of  Gaeta  and 
Messina,  the  citadel  of  which  latter  port  was 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  Royalists.  Francis 
protested  not  without  cogency,  against  the 
recognition  of  a  blockade  decreed  by  an 
usurped  authority  which  thus  presumed  to 
control  the  commercial  liberty  of  maritime 
Powers.  He  argued  that  the  action  of  Gari- 
baldi was  that  of  a  pirate  ;  and  that  in  passively 
accepting  the  decree  civilized  Europe  tolerated 
piracy  in   the  Mediterranean.     The  blockade 


Mt  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

was,  however,  neither  recognized  in  princi|)ie 
nor  enforced,  the  French  mail-steamers  calling 
regul^ly  during  the  siege,  until  after  the  de- 
parture of  Napoleon's  warships,  when  the 
operations  of  the  Italian  fleet  precluded  a  con- 
tinuance of  commercial  intercourse. 

That  Le  Barbier  de  Tinan  misinterpreted 
the  instructions  he  had  receiyed,  would  seem 
sufficiently  evident  from  the  following  extract 
from  the  despatch  of  November  sixth,  in  which 
Monsieur  Thouvenel,  French  Minister  of  For- 
eign A2airs,  communicated  the  occurrence  to 
the  Due  de  Gramont :  "  I  regret  that  Admiral 
de  Tiaan,  although  his  instructions  prescribed 
that  he  limit  his  action  to  preventing  the 
attack  of  Gaeta  from  the  sea,  should  have  ex- 
tended his  operations  further  afield.  King 
Francis  will  have  been  led  to  believe  that  w<e 
intended  to  defend  his  cause,  whilst  our  inten- 
tions were  merely  to  leave  a  door  open  for  him 
to  avoid  becoming  a  prisoner  of  Victor  Em- 
manuel. This  unfortunate  mistake  of  the 
Admiral  will  cause  a  great  outcry ;  and  a 
measure  inspired  by  the  Emperor's  sentiments 
of  humanity  will  be  represented  as  a  fresh 
example  of  duplicity." 

In  this,  as  in  other  cases,  it  remains  to  be 
-proved  that  Napoleon's  policy,  obscure,  vexa- 
tious and  humiliating  as  it  often  appeared  to 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  3^ 

ItaliazMS  impatient  for  the  immediate  political 
redemption  of  their  country,  was  not  in  reality 
in  accord  with  his  oft-expressed  assurances  of 
sympathy  with  their  cause.  A  vacillating  and 
uncertain  policy  it  must  necessarily  be,  based 
as  it  was  on  purely  personal  sympathies  un- 
supported by  either  National  or  Dynastic 
interestg.  As  has  already  been  said.  Napoleon 
III.  never  intended  to  go  as  far  as  the  over- 
whelming revolutionary  tide,  combined  with 
unforeseen  and  fortuitous  circumstances,  now 
carried  him ;  the  interests  of  France  being 
distinctly  at  variance  with  those  of  a  United 
Italy.  It  was  owing  to  this  conviction  that 
Cavonr  never  ceased  to  mistrust  the  apparent 
disinterestedness  of  his  dangerous  yet,  for  the 
time,  indispensable  aUy. 

In  the  present  instance  the  exercise  of  dip- 
lomatic pressure  on  foreign  Courts  effectually 
disconraged  the  intervention  of  Austria,  as 
well  as  the  formation  of  a  coalition  for  the  re- 
instatement of  Francis,  as  contemplated  by  the 
abortive  conference  at  Varsovie  (October  22, 
1860),  between  the  Tzar,  the  Emperor  of  Aus- 
tria, and  the  Prince  Regent  of  Prussia.  On 
this  occasion  the  much  maligned  and  ridiculed 
treaty  of  Zurich,  clumsily  dragged  in  by  Aus- 
tria at  the  intimation  from  the  French  Em- 
peror that  he  would  not  tolerate  a  new  Holy 


344  "^^^  COLLAPSE  OF 

Alliance,  served  a  purpose  by  reviTing  the 
principle  of  non-intervention. 

The  result  of  the  Plebiscite  of  October 
31st,  the  entry  of  Victor  Emmanuel  into 
Naples,  together  with  the  retirement  of  Gari- 
baldi, terminating  what  had  been  regarded  by 
the  Legitimist  Courts  as  a  revolutionary  inci- 
dent, now  lent  a  new  aspect  to  the  Italian 
question,  simplifying  it  in  one  sense  by  the 
achievement  of  that  possession  which  consti- 
tu^:  s  nine  points  of  the  law,  yet  complicating 
it  in  another  with  potentialities  of  far  greater 
import  than  the  dethronement  of  the  King  of 
Naples  and  banishment  of  the  petty  Sovereigns 
of  the  Peninsula. 

After  the  withdrawal  of  the  French  fleet 
to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  fortress,  the 
operations  were  resumed  on  a  more  extensive 
scale,  the  Neapolitan  forces  being  simulta- 
neously attacked  by  the  divisions  of  Cialdini 
and  Sonnaz  on  land,  while  raked  on  their  flank 
by  the  guns  of  Persano's  ships. 

The  retreat  on  Gaeta,  begun  in  good  order, 
rapidly  degenerated  under  the  murderous  cross- 
fire to  which  they  were  subjected  into  a  hope- 
less rout,  the  panic-stricken  Neapolitans 
breaking  their  ranks  in  wild  confusion  to  seek 
shelter  under  the  walls  of  the  fortress.  The 
village  of  Mola,  hitherto  held  by  the  Bourbon 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  345 

troops,  was  now  abandoned,  enabling  Gialdini 
to  advance  his  outposts  to  within  three  thou- 
sand metres  of  the  fortifications.  But  for  the 
presence  of  the  French  fleet,  and  the  fear  of 
the  international  complications  which  must  re- 
sult should  Persano  disregard  the  injunctions 
of  the  Emperor,  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt 
that  the  Italians  could  have  followed  up  their 
signal  success,  and  at  one  blow  have  annihi- 
lated a  foe,  temporarily  paralyzed  by  the  mag- 
nitude of  this  irretrievable  disaster. 

To  add  to  the  misfortunes  which  over- 
whelmed the  Bourbon  Cause  news  reached  the 
beleaguered  citadel  that  the  army  corps  com- 
manded by  General  Kuggiero,  an  old  and 
trusted  officer,  had  fallen  back,  without  op- 
posing resistance,  on  Terracina,  where,  having 
been  disarmed  by  the  French  in  spite  of  the 
earnest  supplications  of  the  Pope,  16,686  men 
and  641  officers  were  disbanded  and  scattered 
over  the  States  of  the  Church. 

Believed  of  the  anxiety  of  a  possible  attack 
on  his  flank,  Cialdini  now  began  operations  for 
the  siege  (November  6,  1860). 

It  was,  of  course,  evident,  in  face  of  the 
overwhelming  odds  against  him,  that  the  Nea- 
politan King  must  now  look  to  the  aid  of  Di- 
plomacy rather  than  to  the  achievements  of  the 
forces  still  at  his  disposal  for  the  furtherance  of 


$40  TBE  COLLAPSE  OF 

his  Cause.  Nevertheless  the  siege  promised 
to  be  a  protracted  one  owing  to  the  obnoxions 
circumstances  which  hampered  the  Italian  op- 
erations, and  the  very  considerable  natural  and 
artificial  strength  of  the  fortress  itself. 

Gaeta  had  been  a  renowned  stronghold  in 
the  days  of  the  Norman  invaders,  its  founda- 
tions dating  from  ancient  times  :  successive 
generations  fortified  and  improved  its  natural 
advantages,  Ferdinand  II.  devoting  special 
study  to  the  adaptation  of  its  defences  to  the 
requirements  of  modern  warfare,  while  lavish- 
ing care  upon  the  adornment  and  commodity 
of  the  royal  palace  within  its  walla.  The 
fortress  and  town  perched  upon  the  rocky 
promontory  jutting  out  into  the  Mediterranean 
were  consequently  admirably  calculated  to  hold 
in  check  an  enemy  advancing  from  the  land, 
while  in  this  instance  the  sea  front,  also  pro- 
vided with  modem  batteries,  was  guaranteed 
from  assault  by  the  presence  of  the  French  fleet. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  siege  the  place  was 
garrisoned  by  twenty-one  thousand  troops, 
fully  equipped  and  provided  with  munitions  of 
war  in  vast  quantities.  Food  supplies  con- 
tinued to  arrive  from  the  neighboring  Papal 
ports  of  Civita  Vecchia  and  Terracina,  the 
French  Admiral  abetting  the  liberty  of  com- 
munication by  water. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  347 

In  addition  to  Francis  and  Maria  Sophia, 
and  their  suites,  the  Royal  Palace  gave  shelter 
to  the  Queen  Mother,  the  half-brothers  and 
sisters  of  the  King,  his  nncks,  the  Court  offi- 
cials. Ministers  of  the  Crown,  and  those  mem- 
bers of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  who  had  followed 
the  Sovereign  from  Naples.  Amongst  these 
were  the  Papal  Nancio  and  the  representatives 
of  Austria,  Prussia,  Russia  and  Spain.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  British  and  French 
Ministers  received  instructions  from  their  re- 
spective Governments  to  watch  the  progress  of 
events  from  their  Legations  in  Naples ;  as  a 
consequence,  in  his  personal  eommnnications 
with  Francis,  the  French  Emperor  now  had 
recourse  to  the  services  of  his  Admiral,  who 
combined  with  the  duties  of  his  regular  pro- 
fession those  of  a  plenipotentiary  within  the 
waters  surrounding  Gaeta. 

No  fighting  of  importance  took  place  during 
the  remainder  of  the  month  of  November ;  but 
on  the  other  hand  Diplomacy  was  frantically 
active  in  its  conflicting  efforts  to  envenom  or 
amend  a  situation  all  sides  felt  to  be  intoler- 
able. Desultory  attacks  on  the  part  of  the  as- 
sailants, accompanied  by  comparatively  harm- 
less shelling  of  the  batteries,  marked  the  weary 
monotony  of  the  days.  On  the  twelfth  an 
inefieetnal  sortie  took   place,  a  half-hearted 


348  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

attempt  being  made  to  destroy  the  entrench- 
ments which  the  Piedmontese  were  laboriously, 
constructing.  The  same  day  a  number  of 
Garibaldian  prisoners  confined  in  the  Castle 
were  exchanged  at  Mola  for  the  Neapolitans  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  same  date  wit- 
nessed the  abandonment  of  the  Bourbon  Cause 
by  several  of  the  most  prominent  Neapolitan 
officers,  including  Generals  Barbalonga,  Co- 
lonna,  and  Salzano,  the  latter  ex-Governor  of 
Capua.  The  defection  of  these  last  named,  in 
whom  he  had  placed  implicit  confidence,  was  a 
bitter  mortification  to  the  sorely-tried  Sover- 
eign. Hardly  less  significant  was  the  depar- 
ture on  November  twenty-first  of  the  Queen 
Mother,  the  younger  members  of  the  Royal 
Family,  and  the  whole  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  with  the  exception  of  the  Spanish  Min- 
ister, Bermudez  de  Castro,  devotedly  attached 
to  the  person  of  the  King.  Even  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Gaeta  availed  himself  of  this  oppor- 
tunity to  abandon  the  sinking  ship. 

On  the  nineteenth  Colonel  Bosco,  having 
now  purged  the  six  months  enforced  idleness 
stipulated  in  the  parole  granted  him  by  the 
Italians  after  his  distinguished  defence  of  Mi- 
lazzo,  arrived  at  Gaeta,  and  offered  his  services 
to  Francis.  The  King  welcomed  this  gallant 
officer  with  enthusiasm,  practically  placing  in 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES  349 

his  hands  the  entire  supervision  &ud  organiza- 
tion of  the  military  operations. 

Count  Cavour  had  in  the  interval  lost  no  op- 
portunity of  protesting  against  the  continued 
presence  of  the  French  fleet,  and  of  impressing 
upon  the  Emperor  the  grave  prejudice  caused 
by  this  overt  intervention  on  behalf  of  the 
Bourbon  King.  Acting  under  his  advice,  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel  sent  Count  Vimercati  to  Paris 
with  a  personal  letter  to  the  Emperor.  After 
considerable  delay,  during  which  pressure  was 
brought  to  bear  on  the  defender  of  Gaeta, 
Napoleon  informed  Vimercati,  through  M. 
Thouvenel,  that  if  Victor  Emmanuel  would 
consent  to  an  armistice  of  eight  days'  duration, 
he  would  signify  to  Francis  that  the  further 
defence  of  Gaeta  was  useless,  counsel  him  to 
abandon  the  struggle,  and,  in  case  of  refusal, 
withdraw  his  fleet. 

That  satisfactory  results  were  expected  from 
these  negotiations  is  demonstrated  by  the  fol- 
lowing extract  of  Cavour's  letter  of  December 
9,  1860,  to  the  Marquis  d'Azeglio  :  '*  A  tele- 
graphic despatch  from  the  King,  received  last 
night,  informs  me  that  His  Majesty  adheres  to 
the  Emperor's  proposals,  trusting  that  in  eight 
days  either  Gaeta  will  have  surrendered,  or  that 
the  French  fleet  will  have  retired." 

In  the  meanwhile  Napoleon  wrote  privately 


2166  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

to  the  Neapolitan  King  urging  him  to  abandon 
a  straggle  which  could  have  but  one  termina- 
tion, and  intimating  that  he  would  be  con- 
strained at  no  distant  date  to  recall  his  sqaadron. 
To  the  Emperor's  advice  and  warning,  Fraa- 
cis  replied  in  dignified  terms,  thanking  him 
for  the  support  afforded  by  the  presence  of  his 
fleet,  bat  decl^ng  his  determination  to  defend 
his  rights  to  the  end.  "  You  are  aware.  Sire," 
he  c«mtinues,  *'  that  Kings  who  descend  from 
their  thrones  remount  them  again  with  diffi- 
calty,  unless  their  misfortunes  be  illumined  by 
a  ray  of  glory.  Here  I  am  a  Sovereign  in  prin- 
ciple, but  a  General  in  reality  :  I  no  longer 
possess  a  State  ;  I  rule  over  but  a  sandy  beach 
and  faithful  soldiers.  Can  I  abandon,  on  ac- 
count of  the  probability  of  personal  risks,  an 
army  eager  to  preserve  the  honor  of  its  flag  ;  a 
fortress  on  which  my  ancestors  lavished  their 
greatest  care  in  order  to  make  of  it  the  last 
bulwark  of  the  monarchy  ?  As  a  Prince,  and 
a  soldier,  I  must  fulfil  my  duty  to  the  end.  I 
may  succumb  ;  I  may  be  taken  prisoner ;  but 
Princes  must  know  how  to  die  if  need  be. 
Francis  I.  was  a  prisoner,  and  yet  History  has 
not  denied  him  praise  for  his  valorous  feats  of 
arms,  and  the  dignity  with  which  he  underwent 
his  captivity.  No  evanescent  exaltation  in- 
iq^iireg  this  language.    It  is  the  outcome  of  sober 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  361 

reflection,  and  Yonr  Majesty  possesses  the  heart 
and  the  intellect  wherewith  to  appreciate  ray 
sentiments." 

An  offer  from  Great  Britain  of  a  war-ship  to 
convey  the  King  to  any  port  he  might  select, 
was  declined  in  like  manner. 

Undoubtedly  the  entreaties  of  the  enthnsias- 
tic  yonng  Queen,  seconded  by  the  optimistic, 
at  times  even  bombastic,  assurances  of  Bosco, 
influenced  Francis  in  the  adoption  of  a  decis- 
ion, the  suicidal  if  heroic  nature  of  which  was 
patent  to  all.  Moreover,  in  spite  of  the  disil- 
lusions experienced  when  Admiral  de  Tinan, 
in  accordance  with  the  limitations  imposed 
upon  his  actions  from  headquarters,  impassively 
assisted  at  the  defeat  and  rout  of  his  troops  on 
the  Garigliano,  Francis  still  clung  pertinaciously 
to  the  belief  that  Napoleon  III.  would  continue 
to  befriend  him.  Notwithstanding  his  brave 
words,  and  the  proud  stand  he  had  taken,  the 
inevitable  consequences  which  must  overtake 
him  should  the  Emperor  carry  out  his  threat, 
haunted  the  unfortunate  King,  and  spurred 
him  to  make  every  effort  to  secure  the  inter- 
cession of  those  foreign  Courts  avowedly 
friendly  to  his  cause.  At  his  earnest  supplica- 
tion the  Tzar,  Prince  Regent  of  Prussia,  and 
Austrian  Emperor,  sought,  through  their  rep- 
resentatives in  Paris,  to  persuade  Napoleon  to 


852  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

maintain  his  squadron  at  Gaeta.  M.  Thouye- 
nel,  when  acknowledging  the  personal  interces- 
sion of  these  Sovereigns,  explained  to  their 
Ambassadors  that,  in  view  of  certain  consum- 
mated facts  which  could  now  neither  be  un- 
done nor  ignored,  the  only  means  of  relieving 
the  King's  position  was  by  facilitating  the  ar- 
rangements for  an  armistice  ;  and  that  Admiral 
de  Tinan  had  been  instructed  to  use  his  good 
ofl&ces  to  that  end.  The  French  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs  added  unequivocally,  however, 
that  whether  the  propositions  be  accepted  or 
rejected  *'  the  moment  for  the  recall  of  squad- 
ron, although  not  yet  definitely  fixed,  would 
not  be  long  delayed," 

The  negotiations  undertaken  during  the  ar- 
mistice failed  to  achieve  any  satisfactory  result ; 
yet  Napoleon  still  hesitated  to  enforce  his 
threat.  "  The  miserable  question  of  the  fleet 
does  not  progress,"  writes  Oavour  on  January 
fourth.  '*The  Emperor,  while  well  disposed 
towards  us,  puts  us  off  from  week  to  week, 
never  reaching  a  decision." 

Meanwhile  Cavour  was  straining  every  nerve 
to  induce  the  Cabinet  of  St.  James  to  bring 
pressure  to  bear  on  the  French  Emperor,  par- 
ticularly amenable  at  this  juncture  to  sugges- 
tions from  across  the  Channel.  Lord  Palmer- 
ston   and  Lord  John  Russell  were  gradually 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  353 

being  won  over  to  the  views  of  the  astute  states- 
man in  Turin  as  represented  to  them  by  the 
Marquis  d'Azeglio.  Under  date  of  November 
28,  1860,  Lord  Malmesbnry  enters  in  his  enter- 
taining Diary  :  "  Lady  Tankerville  called  and 
told  me  she  went  to  see  Lady  Palmerston  this 
morning.  Whilst  she  was  there  Lord  Palmer- 
ston came  in  in  a  furious  passion  with  the 
Emperor  of  the  French  for  preventing  the 
bombardment  of  Gaeta,  and  saying  the  atroci- 
ties committed  by  Francis  II.  were  dreadful  ; 
that  he  had  ordered  people's  eyes  to  be  put  out, 
their  noses  cut  off,  etc.,  and  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  put  an  end  to  this  state  of  things. 
Lady  Tankerville  expressed  her  disbelief  of  this 
story ;  at  which  Lord  Palmerston  got  more 
angry,  and  said  it  was  official  and  therefore 
must  be  true." 

The  influence  which  the  Marquis  d'Azeglio 
had  gained  over  the  English  Premier  is  still 
further  demonstrated  by  a  later  entry  in  the 
Diary  of  the  ex-Minister.  On  December  first. 
Lord  Malmesbury  notes  :  '*  Saw  de  Persigny 
(the  French  Ambassador  to  the  Court  of  St. 
James),  who  abused  Palmerston,  saying  he  is 
not  at  all  the  man  he  used  to  be  ;  that  he  was 
completely  led  by  d'Azeglio,  and  believed 
everything  he  told  him.  .  .  ." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Ttie  Siege  of  Qaeta.— Bombardment.— Diplomatic  interferenoe. 
— Oialdini  makes  unexpected  attack.— Francis  rejects  pix>- 
posals  for  capitulation. — His  letter  to  the  Emperor  Napo- 
leon in.— Departure  of  French  fleet.— Action  of  Royalist 
ofBcers. — Hermsm  of  Queen  Maria  Sophia. — ^Typhus  Epi- 
demic. —  Negative  results  of  bombardment.  —  Series  of 
catastrophes. — Renewed  attacks. — Terrific  explosions. — A 
truce. — Gteneral  Milon  negotiates  surrender. — Conditions  of 
capitulation.  —  Departure  of  King.  —  Francis  addresses 
troops.— He  goes  to  Rome. — His  wanderings  and  death. — 
Surrender  of  Messina  and  Civitella.— Victor  Emmaovel 
proclaimed  King  ot  Italy. — Conclusion. 

Although  there  had  been  some  sharp  fight- 
ing, combined  with  a  desultory  but  compara- 
tively innocuous  bombardment,  since  the  in- 
vestiture of  the  fortress  of  Gaeta,  the  em- 
barrassing presence  of  the  equivocally  neutral 
fleet,  and  the  frequent  interruptions  necessi- 
tated by  the  diplomatic  negotiations  in  process 
between  the  Cabinets  of  Turin  and  Paris, 
materially  retarded  Cialdini  in  the  preparations 
necessary  for  the  concentration  of  his  resources 
for  a  decisive  and  effectual  attack. 

Daring  the  first  days  of  Januai^  (1881)  the 
354 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  366 

firing  became  more  active,  and  on  the  seventfa, 
Francis  and  the  Queen,  accompanied  by  th^r 
saiies,  abandoned  the  palace,  and  for  greater 
safety  took  up  their  qaarters  in  the  armored 
casemates.  The  parallels,  constrncted  with 
great  difficulty  under  the  incessant  fire  of  the 
enemy,  had  novr  been  carried  within  efficacious 
range,  and  all  was  in  readiness  to  begin  con- 
clusive operations,  when  orders  again  arrived 
from  Turin  to  cease  firing,  the  French  Emperor 
being  desirous  of  arranging  another  armistice. 
While  anxious  to  avoid  bloodshed,  and  mini- 
mize the  casualties  of  what  he  recognized  to  be 
a  fratoicidal  war,  Cavour,  in  view  of  the  prej- 
udice, political,  diplomatic  and  material, 
which  most  result  from  a  prolongation  of  the 
abnornud  situation,  yielded  nnwillingly  to 
Napoleon's  suggestion.  In  his  despatch  to 
d'Azeglio  of  January  11,  1861,  he  explains 
his  position  ;  **  The  suspension  of  operations 
for  two  weeks  seemed  inacceptable  to  me  :  all 
the  more  so  as  a  few  days*  rain  would  suffice  to 
seriously  damage  the  earthworks  constructed 
at  the  cost  of  such  sacrifices.  On  the  other 
hand,  Hudson  (British  Minister  at  Turin)  him- 
self urged  me  not  to  reply  to  the  Emperor  with 
&  point-blank  refusal.  I  therefore  made  a 
oonnter-proposition  limiting  the  armistice  to 
eight  days,  while  letting  it  be  understood  that 


356  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

if  the  fleet  did  not  retire,  Cialdini  wonld,  not- 
withstanding, storm  Gaeta."* 

Although  Francis  was  unwilling  to  avail 
himself  of  the  proposed  armistice.  Admiral  de 
Tinan,  acting  under  personal  and  urgent  in- 
structions from  the  Emperor,  took  upon  him- 
self the  negotiations  by  which  it  was  ultimately 
agreed  that  all  operations  should  cease  between 
January  9th  and  19th — the  date  fixed  for  the 
departure  of  the  French  war  vessels. 

On  the  8th,  Cialdini,  presumably  desirous  of 
protesting  before  Italy  and  Europe  that  the 
acceptance  of  the  armistice  was  due  solely  to  a 
courteous  desire  to  gratify  the  Emperor,  and 
refute  in  advance  disparaging  insinuations 
which  would  inevitably  be  levelled  against 
the  prowess  of  Italian  arms,  in  the  event 
of  the  Imperial  intercession  resulting  in  a 
capitulation,  took  advantage  of  the  interven- 
ing twenty-four  hours  for  a  combined  attack 
on  the  fortress  with  all  the  resources  at  his 
disposal.  The  firing  on  both  sides  was  heavy 
and  destructive.  Cialdini,  although  deprived 
of  the  co-operation  of  Persano's  ships  on  the 
water-front,  a  co-operation  he  would  depend 
upon  after  the  departure  of  the  French,  had, 
nevertheless,  impressed  upon  him  by  the  nega- 
tive results  of  this  improvised  and  unlooked- 
•  "  La  Politique  du  Comte  de  Cavour."    Bianchi. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  367 

for  attack,  the  immense  strength  of  the  fortress 
and  the  undaunted  courage  of  its  defenders. 

It  is  difficult  to  comprehend  the  motives 
which  prompted  Francis  to  reject  all  considera- 
tion of  the  proposals  now  made  to  him,  which 
provided  for  an  honorable  and  advantageous 
capitulation,  unless  we  assume  that  he  was 
unduly  elated  by  the  spirited  defence  opposed 
on  the  8th,  and  exaggerated  the  importance  of 
the  havoc  created  by  his  guns  on  the  Italian 
works.  This  could,  however,  hardly  warrant 
the  assumption  that  the  Italians  would  abandon 
an  enterprise  which  would  be  greatly  facilitated 
in  its  military  aspect,  and  simplified  politically, 
with  the  departure  of  the  so-called  neutrals. 
It  is  more  probable  that  the  dethroned  Sover- 
eign overestimated  the  issue  of  the  organized 
**  brigandage,"  as  the  guerilla  warfare,  waged 
by  thousands  of  his  former  soldiery,  was  termed  ; 
and  misinterpreted  the  significance  of  the 
purely  local  reactionary  movements  which  dis- 
turbed isolated  portions  of  his  former  domin- 
ions. It  is  also  certain  that  he  was  cruelly  de- 
ceived in  his  appreciation  of  the  essentially 
platonic,  or  sentimental,  nature  of  the  sym- 
pathy accorded  him  from  abroad.  His  letter 
of  January  15th  to  the  French  Emperor  de- 
monstrates very  clearly  the  extent  of  the 
illusions  he  entertained  ;  but  the  simple  dignity 


368  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

of  its  language,  impregnated  with  an  impassive 
resignation,  not  far  removed  from  heroism, 
testifies  to  the  influence  exerted  by  the  coura- 
geous woman  at  his  side,  rather  than  any  trans- 
formation of  the  weak  and  yielding  fatalism  of 
his  character. 

"  Monsieur  mon  Fr^re  :"  he  writes,  •*  Your 
Majesty's  fleet  will  depart  in  a  few  days,  and 
all  communication  between  this  place  and  the 
rest  of  the  world  will  be  interrupted.  Permit 
me  to  avail  myself  of  this  last  opportunity  to 
write  and  thank  you  again  for  the  interest  you 
have  so  nobly  evinced. 

'*  I  promised  Your  Majesty  that  when  I  had 
adopted  a  definite  resolution  my  first  care,  an 
obligation  dictated  by  loyal  gratitude,  would  be 
to  inform  you  of  it.  I  now  fulfil  my  promise. 
After  the  declaration  of  the  French  Admiral  I 
hesitated  long,  I  confess  :  on  every  side  I  rec- 
ognized serious  objections,  and  the  opinions  of 
ihose  I  felt  bound  to  consult  were  divided  con- 
><jerning  this  supreme  alternative. 

"If,  on  the  one  hand,  by  remaining  here, 
abandoned  by  the  whole  world,  I  expose  myself 
to  falling  in  the  hands  of  a  disloyal  foe,  and 
run  the  risk  of  compromising  my  liberty,  per- 
ihaps  my  dignity  and  my  life ;  on  the  other  hand, 
I  should  by  withdrawing  surrender  a  fortress 
still  intact,  thus  tarnishing  my  military  honor. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  359 

and  renonnce,  by  an  excess  of  prudence,  all 
eventualities,  all  hope  of  the  future. 

"And  how  could  I  yield  when  in  all  the 
provinces  of  my  Kingdom,  my  subjects  rise  with 
one  accord  against  the  domination  of  Pied- 
mont ?  How  can  I  surrender,  when  on  all  sides 
I  am  encouraged  to  resist ;  when  from  all  parts 
of  Europe  private  individuals  or  Governments 
incite  me  to  persevere  in  tlie  defence  of  my 
Cause,  which  is  also  the  Cause  of  Sovereigns  ; 
of  the  rights  of  Nations  ;  of  the  independence 
of  Peoples  ?  If  political  considerations  give 
the  appearance  of  temerity  to  my  resolution. 
Your  Majesty's  great  and  noble  heart  will  dis- 
tinguish and  appreciate  my  motives. 

'*  I  am  the  victim  of  my  inexperience  ;  of  the 
cunning,  of  the  injustice  and  audacity  of  an 
ambitious  Power.  I  have  lost  my  Kingdom  ; 
but  I  have  not  lost  my  faith  in  the  protection 
of  God,  and  in  the  justice  of  man.  My  rights 
are  to-day  my  only  inheritance,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary in  their  defence  to  bury  myself,  if  needs 
be,  beneath  the  smoking  ruins  of  Gaeta. 

"  It  is  not  this  prospect  which  caused  me  to 
hesitate  for  a  moment.  My  only  fear  was  that 
in  becoming  a  prisoner  I  might  witness  the 
royal  dignity  debased  in  my  person.  But  should 
this  last  trial  be  in  store  for  me  ;  should  Europe 
consent  to  this  final  outrage,  be  assured,  Sire, 


360  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

that  I  will  utter  no  complaint,  and  that  I  will 
meet  my  fate  with  resignation  and  firmness. 

**I  have  made  every  effort  to  decide  the 
Queen  to  separate  herself  from  me,  but  I  have 
been  conquered  by  her  gentle  entreaties,  and 
by  her  generous  determination.  She  has  de- 
sired to  share  my  fortunes  to  the  end,  devoting 
herself  to  the  direction  of  the  hospitals,  and 
the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  From  to- 
night Gaeta  is  the  richer  by  another  sister  of 
charity. 

"  Not  knowing  whether  Your  Majesty  will 
recognize  the  blockade,  and  being  doubtful  if 
the  Imperial  mail-steamers  will  be  able  in  future 
to  bring  me  news  of  Your  Majesty,  I  have  has- 
tened to  write  in  order  that  the  last  news  which 
reaches  you  from  the  interior  of  this  fortress 
should  carry  assurances  of  the  profound  esteem, 
of  the  sincere  gratitude,  and  of  the  true  friend- 
ship, with  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be,Monsieur 
mon  Fr^re,  Your  Majesty's  Good  Brother ; 
Francis." 

Before  the  expiration  of  the  truce  Oialdini 
commissioned  General  Menabrea  and  Colonel 
Piola-Caselli  to  parley  with  the  enemy  ;  offering 
terms  for  an  honorable  and  advantageous  capit- 
ulation. These  were  courteously  bat  firmly 
rejected,  with  the  somewhat  pretentious  allega- 
tion that  it  would  be  an  outrage  on  the  honor 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  361 

of  Neapolitan  arms  to  sarrender  a  fortress  capa- 
ble of  a  vigorous  resistance.  When  informed 
of  this  retort  Cialdini  paid  a  glowing  tribute  to 
the  valor  of  his  opponents  by  exclaiming  :  "  If 
they  were  not  Italians,  I  should  be  proud  to 
fight  against  such  men  ! " 

Yet  in  spite  of  this  haughty  demeanor  the 
precarious  conditions  prevailing  within  the  nar- 
row and  over-crowded  limits  of  the  town  had 
made  it  necessary  to  reduce  the  garrison.  Dur- 
ing the  previous  daysnumei'ous  bodies  of  troops 
had  been  embarked  on  vessels  sailing  under  the 
French  flag,  and  landed  at  various  points  along 
the  coast ;  whence  mo'st  of  them  found  their 
way  to. the  mountains,  or  into  Papal  territory, 
there  to  be  amalgamated  with  the  bands  of 
*'  brigands  "  recruited  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
tinuing the  struggle  and  inciting  reactionary 
revolt  throughout  the  dominions  of  the  ex- 
King.  Owing  to  these  departures,  and  to 
nnmerons  desertions,  the  garrison  at  the  mo- 
ment of  the  recall  of  the  French  fleet  had  been 
reduced  to  less  than  twelve  thousand  men.* 

With  the  expiration  of  the  armistice  the 
French  squadron  weighed  anchor,  at  half-past 
four  on  the  afternoon  of  January  nineteenth, 
and  sailed  out  of  the  harbor.  Three  Spanish 
vessels  which  lay  under  the  shelter  of  the  fort- 

*  "  Battazzi  et  son  Temps."    Madame  Rattazzi. 


362  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

ress  yielded  to  the  peremptoi'y  intimation  of 
Cialdini,  and  took  their  departure,  in  company 
with  the  Prussian  corvette  *' Ida,"  which  had 
conveyed  several  members  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps  to  Gaeta  during  the  armistice. 

Deprived  of  the  support  of  the  French,  and 
with  the  certainty  of  suffering  and  cruel  priva- 
tion before  him,  only  to  be  relieved  at  the  cost 
of  his  Crown,  the  heart  of  the  unfortunate 
young  Prince  was  cheered  in  this  dark  hour  of 
anguish  by  the  spontaneous  action  of  his  ofl&- 
cers,  who  presented  an  address  renewing  their 
homage  and  allegiance  to  their  King,  and  de- 
claring :  "  Whether  our  fate  is  about  to  be 
decided,  or  whether  a  long  period  of  struggle 
and  suffering  still  awaits  us,  we  will  face  our 
destiny  resignedly  and  fearlessly  :  we  will  go  to 
meet  either  the  joys  of  triumph  or  the  death 
of  the  brave  with  the  proud  and  dignified  seren- 
ity befitting  soldiers/' 

Admiral  Persano  lost  no  time  in  stationing 
the  fourteen  vessels  of  various  tonnage  which 
constituted  his  fleet  before  Gaeta,  and  ofl&- 
cially  proclaiming  the  blockade. 

And  now  began  a  drama  the  enactment  of 
which  called  forth  a  chivalry  and  courtesy  more 
in  accord  with  the  fabled  narratives  of  the 
Crusades  than  the  grim  realities  of  modern 
warfare.     While  the  Queen  was  abroad  on  her 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  363 

yisits  of  mercy,  a  black  flag  indicated  her 
whereabouts,  and  there  the  Italians  refrained 
from  pointing  their  gans.  Maria  Sophia,  how- 
ever, despised  this  courteous  discrimination, 
and  was  often  to  be  found  on  the  ramparts  in 
the  thick  of  the  smoke  and  din  of  battle,  en- 
couraging the  gunners ;  heedlessly  exposing 
herself  midst  a  rain  of  flying  shells  and  ballets. 
To  the  horrors  of  war  was  added  the  hardly 
less  ghastly  spectacle  afforded  by  the  virulent 
outbreak  of  typhus,  which  quickly  overcrowded 
the  hospitals,  and  paralyzed  the  insulEcient 
medical  resources.  To  the  fever-stricken  fort- 
ress Cialdini  sent  supplies  of  ice  and  medi- 
cines ;  volunteering  also  surgical  aid  for  the 
sufferers,  or  facilities  for  their  transportation 
beyond  the  zone  of  active  hostilities. 

The  combined  bombardment  from  land  and  sea 
had  begun  on  the  22d.  During  the  eight  hours 
this  furious  attack  lasted  the  land  batteries 
hurled  about  11,400  projectiles  against  the 
doomed  fortress,  which  responded  with  over 
10,600.  The  damage  done  by  the  guns  of  the 
fleet  was  less  extensive  than  had  been  antici- 
pated. This  was  partly  due  to  the  inexperi- 
ence of  the  gunners,  but  more  particularly  ow- 
ing to  Persano's  timid  hesitation  at  exposing 
his  ships,  and  bringing  them  virithin  effective 
range.     Feats  of  daring  and  courage  signalized 


364  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

the  attack  as  well  as  the  desperate  defence. 
Maria  Sophia,  attended  by  the  Swiss  General 
Schumacher  the  regimental  bands  gaily  playing 
the  royal  anthem,  visited  the  batteries,  her 
presence  exciting  the  enthusiasm  and  redoub- 
ling the  valor  of  the  men.  The  horror  and 
confusion  of  the  scene  was  intensified  during 
the  afternoon  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell  in  the 
powder  magazine  of  the  "  Cappuccini "  battery, 
causing  a  frightful  explosion,  and  the  death  of 
nearly  all  the  brave  fellows  serving  the  guns, 
besides  reducing  the  works  to  a  heap  of  shape- 
less ruins. 

Nevertheless  the  negative  results  of  the  naval 
bombardment  decided  Cialdini  to  adopt  other 
means  of  attack,  and  suggested  the  employ- 
ment of  a  species  of  torpedo,  or  powder-ships. 
These  vessels,  containing  about  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds  of  powder,  were  designed  to 
be  run  ashore  against  the  sea-batteries,  and 
there  exploding  with  terrific  force,  shatter  the 
works  and  their  defences,  tearing  open  a  breach. 
During  the  construction  of  these  terrible  en- 
gines of  war,  which  necessitated  careful  calcu- 
lations and  somewhat  intricate  machinery, 
Cialdini  continued  to  push  forward  the  work 
on  his  trenches.  It  may  be  mentioned,  how- 
ever, that  occasion  for  the  use  of  the  "  fire- 
ships,"  as  they  were  termed,  was  fortunately 
avoided. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  366 

With  the  opening  of  February  the  attack 
was  resumed  with  increased  impetaosity.  A 
series  of  misfortunes  and  catastrophes,  calcu- 
lated to  damp  the  ardor  of  the  most  sanguine 
advocates  for  uncompromising  resistance,  still 
furthet  contributed  to  the  horrors  of  the  situ- 
ation. The  rapid,  all  pervading,  epidemic  of 
typhus  spread  consternation  :  in  a  single  night 
the  fell  disease  carried  off  ninety-three  victims, 
amongst  others  the  Abbe  Eichellzer,  the  Queen's 
confessor,  and  several  officers  of  the  King's 
Staff,  who  died  in  the  armored  casemates  within 
which  the  royal  couple  had  taken  refuge.  The 
feeling  of  general  despondency  was  further 
increased  by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  to  Maria 
Sophia  in  which  the  Empress  Eugenie  very 
clearly  implied  that  all  hope  of  the  possible 
intervention  of  France  must  be  abandoned. 
On  February  third  the  "  Cappelletti "  battery 
blew  up  :  two  days  later  a  shell  fell  in  the 
Sant*  Antonio  bastion,  exploding  the  maga- 
zine, completely  wrecking  the  works,  killing 
two  hundred  and  twelve  soldiers,  including 
General  Traversa  and  Colonel  di  Sagro,  and 
burying  beneath  the  debris  nearly  a  hundred 
sappers.  The  same  explosion  practically  de- 
stroyed the  defences  surrounding  the  draw- 
bridge leading  to  Porta  di  Terra,  or  the  land 
gate,  and   cut  off  communication  with  that 


866  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

quarter.  Admiral  Persano,  perceiving  that  an 
attempt  was  in  progress  to  repair  the  breach, 
sent  the  gun-boat  "Garibaldi"  during  the 
night  to  shell  the  ruins.  In  spite  of  the  terri- 
bly destructive  fire  kept  up  by  this  war-ship. 
Major  Afan  de  Kivera,  accompanied  by  a 
handful  of  volunteers,  went  to  the  assistance 
of  his  comrades,  and  succeeded  in  extracting 
many  who,  though  crushed  and  pinioned  be- 
neath the  smoking  ruins,  still  breathed. 

The  terrible  effects  of  this  explosion,  or 
rather  series  of  explosions,  induced  Francis  to 
send  General  Eitucci  with  a  petition  for  a  truce 
of  forty-eight  hours,  in  order  that  a  more 
thorough  search  might  be  undertaken  for  those 
still  buried  beneath  the  fallen  walls.  Gialdini 
not  only  willingly  acceded  to  this  request,  but 
received  a  hundred  of  the  wounded  in  his 
hospital  at  Mola,  and  forwarded  an  equal  num- 
ber to  the  infirmary  at  Naples. 

During  these  operations  it  transpired,  how- 
ever, that  the  Neapolitans,  in  violation  of  the 
express  stipulations  governing  the  truce,  were 
employing  the  materials  extracted  from  the 
ruins  in  repairing  the  damage,  created  by  the 
explosion.  Gialdini,  indignant  at  this  unjus- 
tifiable breach  of  faith,  now  rejected  further 
proposals  for  an  armistice  of  fifteen  days ;  re- 
fusing even  to    consider  the  prolongation  of 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  367 

the  present  cessation  of  hostilities,  beyond  an 
additional  twelve  hours.  In  consequence,  on 
the  morning  of  the  9th,  the  combat  was  re- 
sumed with  such  energetic  determination,  and 
under  conditions  so  disadvantageous  to  the 
besieged,  that  even  those  amongst  his  advisers 
whot  had  been  most  uncompromisingly  firm 
in  their  counsels  for  resistance,  now  warned 
Francis  of  the  futility  of  further  efforts. 

Preliminary  negotiations  for  the  surrender 
were  opened  on  the  evening  of  the  11th,  just  as 
the  Piedmontese  were  preparing  to  storm  the 
fortress,  after  having  opened  a  breach  in  the 
Philipstadt  bastion,  which  commanded  the 
isthmus  connecting  the  promontory  of  Gaeta 
with  Mola  on  the  mainland. 

Francis,  realizing  that  favorable  terms  would 
with  diflBculty  be  obtained  by  General  Ritucci, 
who  had  incurred  the  personal  animosity  of 
Gialdini  by  his  disloyal  conduct  during  the 
recent  truce,  now  transferred  the  command  of 
the  fortress  to  General  Milon,  intrusting  him 
also  with  the  negotiations  for  the  capitulation. 
The  discussions  were  carried  on  in  the  Pied- 
montese camp  at  Mola,  and,  owing  to  frequent 
interruptions,  occupied  the  greater  part  of 
three  days.  Pending  the  conclusion  of  nego- 
tiations, and  the  ratification  of  the  various 
articles,  no  cessation   of  hostilities  had  been 


368  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

granted :  the  plenipotentiaries  consequently 
held  their  sessions  amidst  the  roar  of  artillery 
and  rattle  of  musketry.  On  the  third  day  a 
shell  fell  on  the  magazine  of  the  Transylvanian 
Battery,  containing  over  three  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  pounds  of  powder.  The  explo- 
sion was  terrific  :  56  soldiers  and  two  officers 
lost  their  lives,  while  the  material  damage  cre- 
ated by  the  disaster,  and  the  continuous  bat- 
tering of  the  Italian  artillery,  so  impaired  the 
defences  that  further  resistance  became  well- 
nigh  impossible,  and  decided  the  courageous 
but  disheartened  Neapolitans  to  accept  the 
terms  offered  them. 

The  conditions  regulating  the  capitulation 
having  been  finally  drawn  up  and  duly  signed, 
the  order  to  cease  firing  was  given.  The  con- 
ditions imposed  were  honorable  and  liberal  : 
the  surrender  of  the  fortress  with  all  the  ma- 
terial of  war,  property  of  the  State,  and  pro- 
visions it  contained,  was  insisted  upon.  The 
honors  of  war  were  accorded  to  the  garrison, 
the  officers  being  allowed  to  retain  their 
swords.  All  were  to  be  treated  as  prisoners  of 
war  until  the  fortresses  of  Messina  and  Civ- 
itella  del  Tronto  had  surrendered,  after  which 
the  Neapolitans  were  to  be  disbanded  and  the 
foreign  mercenaries  returned  to  their  respect- 
ive countries  under  parole  not  to  take  service 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  369 

against  the  Italians  for  a  year.  The  King,  ac- 
companied by  the  members  of  his  family,  the 
Swiss  Generals  de  Riedraatten  and  Schumacher, 
as  well  as  General  Bosco,  was  to  be  allowed  to 
embark  on  the  French  corvette  "  Mouette," 
which  Napoleon  had  instructed  should  be  held 
in  readiness  for  this  mission  after  the  recall  of 
his  squadron,  and  which  was  now  summoned 
from  Naples. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th,  while  the  Pied- 
montese  troops  occupied  the  land  batteries,  the 
King,  accompanied  by  his  valiant  young  con- 
sort, the  members  of  his  family,  and  the  Gen- 
erals above  mentioned,  descended  to  the  water 
front,  and  passing  through  a  double  line  of 
his  faithful  regiments,  embarked  on  the 
"  Mouette,"  amidst  the  cheers  of  his  soldiers 
and  the  thunder  of  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns 
— the  last  homage  of  those  who  had  so  valor- 
ously  upheld  his  Cause  during  the  ninety-two 
days  the  siege  had  lasted.  Not  until  the 
"  Mouette  "  rounded  the  point  and  headed  for 
Civita  Vecchia  was  the  Bourbon  standard 
lowered  and  the  tricolor  of  Italy  run  up  in  its 
stead. 

On  the  day  of  his  departure  Francis  issued 
an  eloquent  proclamation  to  his  troops,  thank- 
ing them  for  the  unselfish  support  they  had 
accorded  him.     ''  Thanks  to  yon,**  he  inrote. 


370  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

"  the  honor  of  the  army  of  the  Two  Sicilies  is 
intact :  thanks  to  you,  your  Sovereign  can 
still  lift  his  head  with  pride ;  while  in  the 
exile  where  he  will  await  the  justice  of  Heaven 
the  remembrance  of  the  heroic  fidelity  of  his 
soldiers  will  ever  afford  the  sweetest  consola- 
tion in  his  misfortunes/' 

Francis  went  directly  to  Rome,  where  he  was 
warmly  welcomed  by  Pius  IX.,  anxious  to  re- 
ciprocate the  hospitality  he  himself  had  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  Ferdinand  when  a  fugi- 
tive at  Gaeta  twelve  years  previously.  At 
Rome,  in  the  magnificent  Farnese  Palace,  or 
in  his  villa  at  Castelgandolfo  in  the  Alban 
Hills,  the  ex-King  continued  to  reside  until, 
with  the  destruction  of  the  Temporal  Power  in 
1870,  and  the  occupation  of  the  Eternal  City 
by  the  troops  of  United  Italy,  he  became  a 
wanderer.  Drifting  over  the  surface  of  Europe, 
now  in  Bavaria,  now  in  Paris  (where  the  ex- 
Queen  Maria  Sophia  still  (1899)  makes  her 
headquarters),  Francis  never  renounced  the 
hope  of  an  eventual  reinstatement  on  the 
Throne  of  his  ancestors.  A  sufferer  for  many 
years  from  diabetes,  he  passed  away  during  a 
sojourn  at  Arco,  a  small  watering  place  in  the 
lower  Tyrol,  at  the  head  of  the  lake  of  Garda, 
on  December  27,  1894. 

On  taking  possession  of  (}aeta  the  yictora 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NAPLES.  371 

found  700  cannon,  56,212  rifles,  10,858  side 
arms,  209,859  projectiles,  and  over  200,000 
cartridges,  large  quantities  of  powder,  and  pro- 
visions for  twenty  (some  say  fifty)  days. 

Prince  Carignano,  who  had  been  appointed 
Lieutenant  General  of  the  new  provinces  by 
Victor  Emmanuel,  arrived  from  Naples  the 
day  after  the  departure  of  the  dethroned  King, 
and  passed  the  Bourbon  troops  in  review. 

Messina  capitulated  a  month  later  (March 
15th),  and  the  phenomenal  defence  of  the 
stronghold  of  Givitella  del  Tronto  was  brought 
to  a  close  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month,  in 
consequence  of  a  letter  dated  from  Rome,  in 
which  their  late  Sovereign,  thanking  the  brave 
garrison  for  their  loyalty  and  splendid  courage, 
signified  that  further  resistance  was  now  useless. 

With  the  capitulation  of  these  last  strong- 
holds of  Bourbon  rule  the  conditions  of  the 
surrender  of  Gaeta  were  scrupulously  complied 
with,  and  the  soldiers  of  the  late  Dynasty  were 
disbanded,  those  who  desired  being  re-enlisted 
in  the  Italian  service,  and  the  others  assisted  to 
their  homes. 

On  March  17,  1861,  the  Italian  Parliament 
assembled  at  Turin,  proclaimed  Victor  Em- 
manuel II.  King  of  Italy,  with  only  two  dis- 
sentient votes  :  the  Monarchy  of  the  Two  Sici- 


372  THE  COLLAPSE  OF 

lies  being  thus  ofl&cially  merged  in  the  Kingdom 
of  tJnited  Italy. 

England  recognized  the  new  dignity  con- 
ferred on  the  Head  of  the  House  of  Savoy  at 
once  :  France  only  in  the  following  June. 

"  The  story  of  the  collapse  of  the  Neapolitan 
Government  in  the  hour  of  need  would  (says 
Professor  Dicey  in  his  study  of  the  life  of  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel  II.),  if  it  were  told  honestly, 
point  a  moral  how  States  fall  to  pieces  when 
people,  ofl&cials,  ministers,  and  rulers  are  alike 
corrupt,  degraded  and  demoralized.  But  low 
as  Naples  had  sunk,  the  Government  would,  I 
am  convinced,  have  been  strong  enough  to 
withstand  the  onslaught  of  the  Garibaldian  in- 
vasion, if  behind  Garibaldi  there  had  not  stood 
the  Kingdom  of  Italy.*' 


THE  END 


;conn 


UC  SOUTHiRN  REGIONAL  LIBHARY  FAQUTY 


A     000  741  556     5 


; 


